By Michael Ashcraft –
An 11th-hour pitch to avoid getting hit with U.S. tariffs has failed, and the UK sees itself essentially sanctioned for the what the White House calls restrictions of free speech.
UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer visited President Trump in a last ditch effort for special trading exemptions but saw his appeals rebuffed. Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters the recent clampdowns on free speech in the UK was the reason.
Vance hinted at UK’s attempt to punish Elon Musk’s tweets on X, which have shed light on the UK’s unprosecuted grooming gangs and the imprisonment of Tommy Robinson. The U.S. has also taken up the case of pro-lifer Livia Tossici-Bolt who is being prosecuted for holding a sign “Here to talk if you like” outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic. (The UK has fiercely guarded legal buffer zones outside clinics going so far as to ban silent prayer.)
“We know there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British… but also affect American technology companies and by extension American citizens,” Vance said.
Before the eyes of the media, Starmer defended the United Kingdom’s record on free speech.
Unmentioned in the exchange was brewing calls for revive blasphemy laws to protect Islam from free-speech critiques of the prophet, the Koran and Allah.
Also, street preachers who describe homosexuality as a sin based on the Bible have been arrested for hate crimes.
The UK lacks what the U.S. has: A Bill of Rights guaranteeing free speech.
On the lawbooks, the UK bans speech that broaches harassment, alarm or distress or cause a breach of the peace, indecent or grossly offensive material that causes anxiety, incitement, racial hatred, incitement to religious hatred, incitement to terrorism, among others.
In the practice, Christians find themselves increasingly in the cross hairs of progressive government officials. Conservatives compare the current government to George Orwell’s 1984. President Trump concurs.
When the UK last year was locking up protesters and freeing criminals and radical Muslims from jail, Elon Musk expressed dismay on X. The UK retaliated to this outside criticism with threats.
In August 2024, London’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner threatened anyone “whipping up hatred” online, naming specifically “the likes of Elon Musk.”
“We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,” Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said at the time. “Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law.”
Six months later, Elon was in the White House, the right hand man to the world’s most powerful man.
