Craig Simpson

London

Arts Correspondent at The Telegraph

Arts Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph @Telegraph Feel free to get in touch: [email protected]

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Articles

Calls for Kneecap boycott spread across Europe

1 week ago | aol.co.uk | Craig Simpson

European venues are facing pressure to ditch Kneecap ahead of a planned continental tour. The Irish rappers are being investigated by a Metropolitan Police anti-terror unit over on-stage shouts of “up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” and “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”These comments have led to widespread calls for Glastonbury Festival organisers to remove the group from the lineup, where they are scheduled to perform on the Saturday.
Calls for Kneecap boycott spread across Europe

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

Further footage surfaced from 2023 of the band shouting "the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP". The chants were condemned by the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess. Kneecap later apologised. Footage from both gigs was referred to the Metropolitan Police, and an anti-terror unit is currently looking into potential offences. There have been high-profile calls for Kneecap gigs, including a planned set at Glastonbury, to be dropped in light of this investigation.
Sex Pistol's John Lyndon condemns Kneecap over 'kill your MP' video

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has condemned Kneecap after a video of a member appearing to shout " kill your local MP " resurfaced. The Irish rappers have become embroiled over their apparent on-stage shouts of " up Hamas " and "kill your local MP", which are now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
Churchill's legacy spent on 'pro-immigrant propaganda'

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

The move will be helped by £1.3 million in public funding from the Arts Council. From its planned new base, the museum will aim to develop a series of "hubs" across the country to help educate the public on migration. There are also plans for an education outreach programme, "national in scope", that will be "capable of reaching every school child in the country"The Churchill Fellowship has played a part in funding this work with an individual grant of at least £14,000.
Artists 'terrified to speak freely about Gaza and gender issues'

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

Artists are terrified to speak freely about Gaza and gender issues, a free speech study has found. The campaign group Freedom in Arts claims there has been a steep decline in artistic freedom over the past five years. A large majority of artists, 78 per cent, would not "dare own up to Right-of-centre political opinions", according to a survey of British arts professionals.
BBC's Annie Mac backs Kneecap in freedom of expression row

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson |Dominic Penna

She added that "there is a much, much more pro-Israel sentiment in America" and "I think people aren't being exposed to what is happening in Gaza in the same way that they might be here". She expressed bemusement at Kneecap being criticised for being overtly political, when numerous bands like Rage Against the Machine have made their names with political messaging.
BBC’s Race Across the World accused of ignoring Chinese brutality

2 weeks ago | ca.news.yahoo.com | Craig Simpson

Natalie and Shameema, two contestants on the popular programme, pictured on a section of the Great Wall of China - Studio Lambert/BBC PicturesThe BBC’s Race Across the World programme has been accused of ignoring the brutality of the Chinese government. Contestants have returned to the country for the latest series of the game show, in which teams attempt to travel long distances between locations without using air travel.
BBC's Race Across the World accused of ignoring Chinese brutality

2 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

The BBC's Race Across the World programme has been accused of ignoring the brutality of the Chinese government. Contestants have returned to the country for the latest series of the game show, in which teams attempt to travel long distances between locations without using air travel. The programme had previously not been filmed in the communist country since its first series aired in 2019.
AI 'book thieves' copied Holocaust survivor's memoir, says author

2 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Craig Simpson

AI book thieves rewrote a Holocaust survivor's memoir to sell for profit, its author has claimed. Renee Salt, born in Poland in 1929, survived the ghetto, Auschwitz and later Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She lost her parents and scores of relatives in the camps, and her life story was recorded in the 2025 memoir A Mother's Promise: My true story of surviving Auschwitz and the horrors of the Holocaust.
Labour pours cold water on giving Elgin Marbles to Greece

2 weeks ago | aol.co.uk | Craig Simpson

Labour has said that British law “puts paid” to Greek hopes for an end to the Elgin Marbles dispute. In the first public intervention on the issue, Sir Chris Bryant, the arts minister, said that the best Britain could offer Greece was a “temporary” agreement. He made clear that legal protections for artefacts under UK law “puts paid” to any idea of a permanent deal for the marbles.