The fallout from the EU referendum continued to stretch far beyond the political and economic arenas, as trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack hit back at the “racists and bigots” during a historic London festival set on Friday.

Frontman Robert Del Naja lamented last week’s public vote during a headline slot at Hyde Park for the opening night of the 2016 Barclaycard presents British Summer Time festival.

Playing Eurochild, a song they wrote in 1993 and had not performed for two decades, the vocalist said: “We didn’t expect to be singing this 20 years later as a requiem (for Britain’s membership of the EU).

Massive Attack perform at the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park.
Robert Del Naja (Ian West/PA)

“As sons of immigrants, we (Del Naja and fellow band member Grant Marshall) are both very disappointed with the situation.

“We can’t allow ourselves to fall victim to the populist bull***t going on at the moment.

“We can’t let the bigots and racists back into this situation. It’s bull***t.”

Grant Marshall.
Grant Marshall (Martial Trezzini/AP)

Massive Attack were backed by much-hyped Mercury Prize-winning collaborators Young Fathers, who dedicated song Shame to “Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – the lying f****** b******s”.

Performing in front of several political motifs emblazoned on a large screen, including “We’re in this together”, #WithRefugees and recent tabloid newspaper headlines, the rap veterans dipped into an extensive back catalogue spanning three decades, including best-known works Safe From Harm and Unfinished Sympathy.

The set was billed as one of the live collaborations of the year, with vocalist Tricky performing on the same stage as the Bristol musicians for only the second time.

Grant Marshall, left, and Robert Del Naja, right, with manager Mark Picken.
Marshall, left, and Del Naja, right, with manager Mark Picken (John Marshall/AP)

The acclaimed artist cut his teeth collaborating with the rap and dance pioneers in the late 1980s but did not share a stage until this year in Berlin.

They were also joined by TV On The Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe – whose band performed on the same stage earlier in the bill – for Pray For Rain, which opened 2010′s Heligoland.