A Belfast court has ruled that British government acted illegally in withholding £14,250 in funding to the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap because of their political views.

In a statement, the UK’s Department for Business and Trade said it would no longer be contesting the case and that it agreed the original decision had been “unlawful and procedurally unfair”.

In 2023 the Belfast group applied for a grant from the Music Export Growth Scheme, an independent government-backed arts initiative that provides funding to promote artists overseas. The British Phonographic Industry approved the application.

In June it emerged that the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport oversee the scheme, and the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, had rescinded the funding. A government spokesperson said it did not want to give taxpayers’ money to “people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.

The trio are known for imagery and lyrics that use and subvert republican tropes, including the 2019 hit Get Your Brits Out, a play on the “Brits out” mantra of the IRA, and once depicted then-prime minister Boris Johnson on a rocket. The group is named for the Troubles-era paramilitary tactic of targeting knees in so-called punishment attacks.

Kneecap member DJ Próvaí arrived at Belfast High Court in a repurposed RUC Land Rover for the short proceedings.

In a statement, the band said: “For us this action was never about £14,250, it could have been 50 pence. The motivation was equality. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday agreement itself and an attack on Kneecap and our way of expressing ourselves.”

They continued: “They don’t like that we oppose British rule, that we don’t believe that England serves anyone in Ireland and the working classes on both sides of the community deserve better; deserve funding, deserve appropriate mental health services, deserve to celebrate music and art and deserve the freedom to express our culture.

“They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza. What they did was a fascist type action, an attempt to block art that does not agree with their views after an independent body made a decision. Their own courts have now found in Kneecap’s favour, as we knew they would. They have tried to silence us and they have failed.”

The trio said they would be donating the full amount to two youth organisations in Belfast “to create a better future for our young people” – Glór na Móna, which promotes Irish language activities and culture, and R-City Belfast, which offers personal and social development for young people.

Kneecap’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin, said: “Kneecap continue to lead by example in practising what they preach. Not only do they sing about cearta (rights), but today they have shown they will even hold the British government itself to account to protect them.”

The band closed their statement advocating for a free Palestine. On 13 December, Kneecap will perform at the Gig for Gaza at the O2 Academy Brixton in London alongside Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Paloma Faith and Liam Bailey.