Nigel Farage said Britain was at “war with freedom” as he prepared to testify in US Congress over limits to free speech.
The Reform UK leader is at a hearing this morning in Washington, raising concerns about British restrictions on freedom of speech in the US.
Mr Farage has raised the case Graham Linehan, the Father Ted creator, who was arrested by five armed officers over posts he made on X about transgender people. Mr Farage earlier described Linehan’s arrest as a “war on freedom”.
He also mentioned the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed over a social media post in the wake of the Southport attacks, and subsequently accused Sir Keir Starmer of holding her as a “political prisoner”. The British politician said he had intended to bring Mrs Connolly, but she was unable to travel to the States, owing to her conviction.
Speaking at this morning’s hearing, Mr Farage said free speech was based on “principles that [we] will fight and defend to the death your right to say something that we fundamentally disagree with.”
He added: “That is the absolute foundation, if you think about it, of free speech, of democracy, of living in freedom.”