The Labour donor Dale Vince praised Kneecap as it emerged that police are investigating the band for showing support for Hamas.

The Irish republican band from Belfast, which received a grant from taxpayers, is being investigated by a Metropolitan Police counter-terror unit for apparent on-stage shouts of “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

Kneecap also provoked outrage at the Coachella festival in California by unveiling a sign that said “F--- Israel”.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed terror organisations and, under the Terrorism Act 2000, it is illegal to “invite support for a proscribed organisation”.

However, Mr Vince, a green energy tycoon who has donated more than £5 million to Labour, praised the band on the day The Telegraph revealed it was being investigated by counter-terror officers.

He posted on X: “Respect to Kneecap, using their platform to speak for Palestine – and against the machinery of war. Needs to be said: genocide is happening, it’s aided by the West in terms of money, arms and silence.

“Shame on Coachella for trying to maintain the silence. But the truth doesn’t need a stage – it finds its voice anyway.”