https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/09/17/paloma-faiths-deranged-tirade-against-ed-sheeran/ Paloma conceded that canning the tour might be tricky for Ed for ‘insurance’ reasons, but nevertheless said it is ‘ideologically’ the right thing to do. She also rebuffed his argument that, as a writer of love songs for preteens, he doesn’t feel the need to blunder into politics. ‘When he said that it really upset me, because there are so many children in Palestine’, thundered Paloma, before adding, incredibly: ‘I say Free Palestine to my children every night. I feel children should be exposed to politics.’ Poor little blighters. Before I call social services, it’s worth reflecting on what Paloma is saying here. Because it has been echoed in many a mental TikTok video over the past 24 hours. Namely, that pop stars aren’t simply duty bound to express an opinion on the big issue of the day, they must express The Opinion. They must toe the ideological line on Palestine or face shaming and lurid accusations of ‘complicity’. Keeping schtum isn’t enough. This is the ‘silence is violence’ slogan of BLM draped in black, white, red and green. This is a terrible idea, for many reasons. It debases popular culture, turning even teeny-bopper pop concerts into little more than an extended lecture. And it debases politics, dragging discourse down to the level of the mindless celeb platitude. It means no area of life is safe from the diktats of the omnicause – including bed time. This is at least as much of a problem for creative freedom as some pro-Israel figures foolishly trying to fight the rise of Israelophobia with cancel culture.