Labour's Lisa Nandy backs Ed Sheeran as star faces being 'cancelled' in support acts row - suggesting it was right to ditch Macklemore over Gaza comments

Labour's Lisa Nandy today backed Ed Sheeran after the British singer saw all of his remaining support acts pull out of the rest of his tour.The Culture Secretary said Sheeran had been 'left in a really difficult and impossible position' as she expressed 'enormous sympathy' for the 35-year-old.She also suggested it was right that US artist Macklemore was jettisoned from Sheeran's Loop Tour over pro-Palestinian remarks, which triggered the row.Macklemore was dropped from the line-up after he called for a 'free Palestine' and showed images of devastation in Gaza during two concerts in New Jersey this month.His political speeches at the shows were condemned by some Jewish groups, while a petition demanded Macklemore be removed from Sheeran's remaining tour dates.On Monday, Macklemore - real name Benjamin Haggerty - posted on Instagram confirming Sheeran and his team had 'made the decision to remove' him from the Loop Tour.But, in a response on the social media platform on Tuesday, Sheeran said Macklemore's departure from the tour was the promoter's decision and not his.Irish singer Aaron Rowe, US musician Finneas, who is Billie Eilish's brother, Danish singer Lukas Graham and Sheeran's tour band Beoga have all since posted on social media to say they have withdrawn from the tour. Labour's Lisa Nandy today backed Ed Sheeran after the British singer saw all of his remaining support acts pull out of the rest of his tour The Culture Secretary said Sheeran had been 'left in a really difficult and impossible position' as she expressed 'enormous sympathy' for the 35-year-old Ms Nandy also suggested it was right that US artist Macklemore was jettisoned from Sheeran's Loop Tour over pro-Palestinian remarks, which triggered the rowSheeran has shed hundreds of thousands of social media followers since the row began as he faces the risk of being 'cancelled'.Speaking to LBC on Wednesday, Ms Nandy said: 'I really feel for Ed Sheeran in all of this, actually.'Because, you know, he's got support acts who he wants to profile and platform, he's got promoters saying that they won't when politics is being introduced to the stadium. 'I think he's been left in a really difficult and impossible position. I hope it doesn't harm his tour. He's one of our most successful artists and also one of the nicest people I've ever worked with.'He does huge amounts in Ipswich to reinvest in the community and give young people opportunities, and so I have enormous sympathy for the position that he finds himself in.'The Culture Secretary agreed it was a 'desperately difficult line to tread' between politics and entertainment.'There is a long and very proud history of artists commenting on politics, not just through the sort of means that Ed Sheeran's support acts have been using, but also like creating art that comments on politics and on society, and I think that is an important and proud tradition,' she added.But the Cabinet minister also suggested 'a lot' of concert-goers did not want to hear political speeches when attending gigs.'I do also think, for a lot of people, life is pretty tough,' she continued. 'The world is quite a difficult place at the moment, and I think a lot of people do also quite like to have a space where they can go, where they can leave all of that aside.'And so, I do understand that for a lot of people, they just want to leave politics aside for a bit and be able to enjoy the music.'In his post on Instagram on Tuesday, Sheeran said 'upcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows' if Macklemore was still supporting him.He added Robert Kraft, owner of the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts where he was due to play, was among them.'I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,' Sheeran posted.'Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn't mean I don't have them, and it doesn't mean I don't care. Nor does it mean I don't support causes in my own personal way.'The Shape Of You singer said he was 'appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine', and added he respected Macklemore 'as an artist'.Sheeran's next performance is scheduled for September 19 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Graham and Rowe were planned to open for him.He has 17 dates still left on the tour across North and South America, with the final show scheduled for December 11 in Mexico City.Elan Carr, chief executive of the Israeli-American council, which started the petition to have Macklemore removed from the tour, said the rapper's actions were 'outrageous'.Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today, he said: 'He took to the stage in front of this captive audience of tens of thousands and proceeded to slander the State of Israel and the Jewish people.'Any political view expressed on stage would be inappropriate in such a context, but what he did was not simply express a political view – he put forth a blood libel against the state of Israel, and by connection, the Jewish people.'It has no place in a concert. A concert is supposed to be inclusive. This is something Mr Sheeran said, he wants inclusive concerts for all his concert-goers.'To make Jewish concert-goers and pro-Israel feel unwelcome is a terrible thing to do and that's what Macklemore did. It's entirely appropriate that he was excused from further performances.'On Macklemore's use of the phrase 'free Palestine', Mr Carr said: 'He has no right to hijack a stage at a concert.'I don't purport to know Macklemore's intentions but Free Palestine absolutely is a call for the extermination of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. It's very clear.'