Keir Starmer’s attempts to strike a free trade deal with the US are at risk over a free speech row after the US State Department warned there would be “no free trade without free speech” – but Whitehall officials have dismissed it as a bluff. The Telegraph has more.
In a highly unusual step on Sunday night, the US State Department issued a statement saying it was “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom” in relation to the case of an anti-abortion campaigner.
It said it was “monitoring” the case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, who was prosecuted for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic reading: “Here to talk if you want.”
A verdict in the case is due on Friday.
The State Department, responsible for US foreign policy, would not usually comment on the domestic policies of another country.
Asked about the comments, a source familiar with trade negotiations told the Telegraph there should be “no free trade without free speech”, a stance thought to have become a point of contention between the two nations.
Sir Keir has been trying to strike a trade deal with the US since coming to power.
However, the Government is braced for Donald Trump’s long-promised global tariffs, expected to come into force on Wednesday, as hopes fade for a deal before the US president’s ‘Liberation Day’.
Mr Trump confirmed on Sunday that the tariffs would hit “all countries”, prompting markets to tumble.
After a phone call between Mr Trump and Sir Keir at the weekend, No 10 conceded on Monday that tariffs would be likely to hit Britain.
An official from the US bureau of democracy, human rights and labour met Ms Tossici-Bolt during a recent visit to the UK.
In a statement, the branch of the State Department said: “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“However, as Vice-President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
Last month, Mr Vance told the Munich Security Conference that he feared “free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat”.
No 10 said it continued to have “constructive discussions” with the Trump administration over trade.
A Whitehall source sought to downplay the significance of free speech to trade talks, telling the Telegraph: “We know it is something they have a bugbear about. We are happy to have discussions on our broader, wide-ranging relationship.
“I don’t think enhancing our economic engagement that is beneficial for both countries is contingent on this particular issue.”
Worth reading in full.
Once again it appears officials are assuming Trump is not serious even when he repeatedly says something. It’s exactly the mistake they made with NATO and defence spending, assuming he wasn’t absolutely sincere when he said Europe needed to up its game or risk the alliance. It would seem reckless to assume he’s bluffing this time.
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Or perhaps officials are predisposed to think Free Speech is just a concern of a few nutters, and not worthy of respect?
Yes to them free speech is a ‘Far Right’ conspiracy theory!
I wonder what the play is here.
We can all fantasise that Trump is so committed to free speech that he is willing to sacrifice a trade deal for it. But that’s just not the case. At least, not over the right of people to hold signs near abortion clinics.
My guess is that this is about the threat all these newly minted online “safety” laws in thr UK and EU pose to US tech companies. I wouldn’t be completely shocked if the sudden new found enthusiasm for Trump by the likes of Zuckerberg is also related in some way.
The fact is that these new digital laws create a potential massive liability for tech companies that isn’t easily resolved.
Yes that is more realistic – a “lay off our firms” message rather than expecting decades of legislation to be repealed, which is what would be required.
That is pretty much what Vance admitted in his speech, before the Leftist delegation started crying. Trump shouldn’t let Zuckerberg forget what he did in 2020 so easy.
Even though I live in Britain and I would be personally poorer for it, I would support the US slapping 100% tariffs on all UK made goods to force the UK government to guarantee free speech.
Go for it, JD Vance.
Trump is thinking long term, just imagine a politician thinking long term!
So, it seems Starmer would rather allow thousands of British jobs to be lost than give up his attempts to censor us all. Tells us all we need to know about the man.
Speaking of deals, I still cannot fathom why the US has agreed to the Illegal UK Prime Minister’s deal to give away a strategically vital piece of UK territory we bought ages ago, fair & square, then make us pay £billions every year to “rent it back”. All without the consent of the British Taxpayers who pay for it all, or their Parliament. What is the US getting out of it? Is Trump planning to rent the Diego Garcia base directly from Mauritius at a bargain basement rate or something?
Is Starmer planning to do the same with Gibraltar?
Or the Falklands? Or the Orkneys?
Or Scotland, since they all hate the English anyway?
As one commenter said,
“If proof were needed that Starmer is out to screw the UK, then this is it.”
I am scratching my head over this unless there is a plan to make the islands part of America next. The idiot Two Tier is just bending over to some pathetic ‘international court’ ruling that any sensible country would tell to shove their ruling where the sun don’t shine.
In 1989 the USA (and UK) was trying to persuade the Soviet Union to allow more freedom of speech. 35 years later we are having to rely on the USA to persuade our own government to allow freedom of speech.
I have no sympathy for Starmer at all but he only has to ask what happened to free speech in USA? On Trump’s orders, numerous ‘resident aliens’ are being dragged off to jail, primarily for protesting against Israel’s genocide. (https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/31/us/what-we-know-college-activists-immigration-hnk/index.html)
Prof. Mearsheimer lamented the disappearance of truth in society (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69N9h4A8N4, from 2m44s), which certainly does not just apply to USA:
“I often think about what’s happened to the concept of truth in our society. People just lie all the time. They deceive all the time. They spin all the time. You don’t know what to believe anymore. This is a tragic situation and, by the way, where it’s most apparent is when it comes to Israel, right, because there you’re just not even allowed to talk about how Israel, you know, does this or does that or how the Israeli issue relates to this issue or that issue. It’s just sort of ruled out of court and the end result is people end up speaking in oblique ways about the issue at hand. The level of dishonesty in our society is really just stunning.”
To which Judge Napolitano answered:
“Well, now the government is fostering this … Yesterday they, in this notorious and horrifying video where six masked police from the Department of Homeland Security stopped this Turkish grad student on the street, wouldn’t answer her questions, wouldn’t say who they were, what they were doing, they just grabbed her arms and handcuffed her and whisked her away [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTLu7CDOJA]. And then they said that they were with Homeland Security. They never filed any documents, they didn’t return the lawyer’s phone calls and she ended up in the same place in Louisiana … where the young man from Colombia was [Mahmoud Khalil]. I point that out to underscore your argument about the things that happen to people when they speak freely. She wrote an op-ed in a student newspaper saying that the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu had denied food, water, medicine and electricity to the people in Gaza: a truthful statement!”
Can you show me evidence to support your claim that “numerous ‘resident aliens’ are being dragged off to jail, primarily for protesting against Israel’s genocide”?
All my URLs above. Or just search on the internet. Antiwar.com. There are plenty of sources. And ‘primarily’ is wrong – my mistake: it should be ‘solely’. Look up “Miriam Adelson” and her work.
That’s not good enough. You can’t expect me to search the Internet for supporting evidence for YOUR claim. Just quote the evidence for your claim.
??? The CNN report (my first link) lists the people arrested. What exactly are you claiming? You think I made this all up? CNN naturally does not like Trump (ditto MSNBC), which is why they are happy to print anti-Trump articles. I like Trump’s anti-establishment actions but he has been totally bought out by the Israelis and continues to deliver masses of weapons to both Israel and Ukraine – hardly the actions of someone allegedly hoping for a Nobel peace prize.
Just imagine if any country other than Israel bombed its neighbour back to the stone ge leaving 50,000 plus dead and 25,00 buried under the rubble.
We have censorship by omission. Free speech about Israel. Lol.
Israeli propaganda.rules.
Depends on who they are bombing. Keep up the good work I say.
Not taking POTUS seriously is a big big mistake. Instead the globalist west-haters like to take him literally.
It is all just flim flam they know that they have very few cards left in terms of keepingt faith in the system alive. That movement is the last ditch attempt of a society of spectacle to pretend that reality isn’t happening. You will see massive crackdowns in regard to freedom of speech over the next two years all over the western world and there is no impeding force. And there will always be enough jackbooted lackeys of the system to make sure that the system survives even as it cannibalises itself.
You have nothing left except a rapidly declining standard of living. You can watch the cartoons on the wall if it makes you feel better. They will leave you with nothing save your eyes to cry with and you will still love them. Nobody can help you no outside force. Ask yourself, am I too far gone? Ask honestly.
Fancy a democracy having “a bug bear” about free speech.
Far too much to expect the Whitehall Bureaucrats and the anti-democrats in Labour to understand that.