Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Wireless Festival for booking Kanye West as a headliner this summer due to his Nazi and anti-semitic messaging.
The Prime Minister said it was ‘deeply concerning’ the American rapper will star as the main act on all three nights of the event in Finsbury Park, London, this July.
West, 48, has repeatedly made anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi remarks on social media, for which he has since apologised and blamed on his bipolar disorder.
He has also worn swastika and ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirts, called himself a Nazi, released a song praising Hitler and said he was going ‘death con 3 on Jewish people’.
West’s actions have led to growing calls for him to be banned from the UK completely. He has not performed in the country for 11 years.
The Home Secretary can deny visas to foreign nationals if their presence is deemed ‘not conducive to the public good’.
Sir Keir Starmer told the Sun on Sunday: ‘It is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.
‘Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears.
‘Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe.’
The 48-year-old rapper’s appearance at Wireless Festival comes amid fears of growing antisemitism within the UK.
In March, four ambulances from a Jewish community-run service were set on fire in north-west London.
Two men and a 17-year-old boy were remanded in custody on Saturday after appearing in court accused of torching the vehicles.
In October last year, two men were killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue.
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was ‘absolutely the wrong decision’ for Wireless to book West.
He said the government should ‘show mettle on tackling antisemitism’ and consider ‘blocking him from entering the country’.
Mr Rosenberg told Newsnight: ‘We’re in this moment of really high levels of antisemitism.
‘So to have someone whose recent track record is, as you said, declaring himself a Nazi, putting out a song called “Heil Hitler”, seems to be absolutely the wrong decision and many Jewish people will worry that that will just inflame what is already a very febrile situation.’
He added: ‘I’m very sympathetic to the challenges he has with mental health and bipolar disorder. But the challenge is maybe he’s not in complete control of his ability to do those things.
‘And we’re really worried that on stage at the Wireless Festival, he’ll suddenly come out with more of these things. And the organisers really need to think carefully about this.’
West apologised in January for his antisemitic remarks in a letter published as a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
In his letter, he said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into ‘a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life’.
West last performed at the Wireless Festival in 2014.
Festival organisers said: ‘Ye’s UK comeback will be an extraordinary chapter in Wireless’s story’.
The Community Security Trust, a charity that provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK, said their decision was ‘completely unacceptable’.
‘There is little confidence that he will not repeat his appalling views in future,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Antisemitism causes real harm to Jewish communities and decisions like this risk signalling that anti-Jewish racism is welcome in the music industry.’