Trump sent US officials to meet UK pro-life activists over concerns their freedom of speech

[Social Media]

 

The Trump administration has dispatched a team of diplomats to the UK to investigate what it views as a troubling erosion of free speech rights, particularly regarding pro-life activists. The five-person delegation from the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor spent several days in the UK, conducting interviews and meetings to assess what officials described as the shrinking space for dissent.

 

The visit was led by Samuel Samson, a senior adviser at the State Department, and included formal talks with Foreign Office officials and UK regulators like Ofcom, particularly around contentious elements of the Online Safety Act. But perhaps most controversially, the team held private meetings with several British pro-life campaigners who had been arrested for silently protesting near abortion clinics. These included Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, Rose Docherty, Adam Smith-Connor, Livia Tossici-Bolt, and Catholic priest Father Sean Gough.

 

Mrs Docherty, a 74-year-old grandmother, told The Telegraph she was the first person arrested under a new Scottish law creating buffer zones outside abortion clinics. She said, “All I did was stand peacefully offering consensual conversation to anyone who wanted to take up my offer to talk. I didn’t break the law, I didn’t influence, I didn’t harass, I didn’t intimidate. And yet, I was arrested just for standing there, peacefully, within 200m of a hospital. This can’t be just. It’s heartening that others around the world, including the US government, have realised this injustice and voiced their support.”

 

Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested in 2023 for praying silently outside a clinic in Birmingham, said, “Since I was arrested simply for the prayers I held in my head, the support from both here in the UK and around the world has been overwhelming. I’m glad that the US administration has highlighted this injustice and hope that UK politicians can be bold enough to make the changes necessary to restore freedom.”

 

The Trump administration’s interest is not limited to these individual cases. Elon Musk, an adviser to Donald Trump and a vocal critic of online censorship, is reportedly among those inside the administration concerned about UK regulatory overreach. Officials also raised the issue of buffer zone laws with UK authorities during trade discussions, with a US source stating, “No free trade without free speech.”

 

Adam Smith-Connor, an Army veteran who received a two-year conditional discharge for breaching a protest ban in Bournemouth, was cited by US Vice President JD Vance during a speech in Munich as an example of why “free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat.”

 

The case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, who also received a conditional discharge and a £20,026 fine for praying within a buffer zone, reportedly alarmed US negotiators to the extent that it nearly derailed trade discussions. Her case, like the others, is being defended by the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal group.

 

ADF legal counsel Lorcan Price said, “Because these peaceful individuals held thoughts and beliefs of which the state disapproved, they find themselves fighting to defend their very right to free thought. Now, fellow Western nations are noticing this erosion of freedom – and we should take heed. We hope our own legislators, witnessing this injustice impacting citizens, will step up to clarify that silent prayer, and consensual conversation, are lawful activities in this country.”

 

Concerns from across the Atlantic extend beyond pro-life activism. Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk raised the case of Lucy Connolly with the White House. Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for 31 months after posting a racist outburst on X following a knife attack by Axel Rudakubana that killed three girls in Southport. Her appeal was rejected, and critics claim her sentence exemplifies the imbalance in how speech is policed in the UK.

 

Nigel Farage, a long-time Trump ally, commented, “The Lucy Connolly case alone shows that two-tier Britain is really here. My American friends cannot believe what is happening in the UK.”

 

A spokesperson for the US State Department stated, “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 UK. It is important that the UK respects and protects freedom of expression.” The UK Cabinet Office has declined to comment on the matter.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Telegraph  2025-05-26

 

 

[JAG]

The "US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor " would do well to wind their neck in, and instead concern themselves with the rapidly emerging threats to democracy, human rights and labour in their own country.

 

The law (and the way in which it is enforced) against "silent prayer" is atrocious, but we don't need the US State Department getting involved.

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, JAG said:

The law (and the way in which it is enforced) against "silent prayer" is atrocious, but we don't need the US State Department getting involved.

Yeah. You do. Thats their job. When folks start depriving folks of their rights like in Britain or similar places like Sudan or South Africa, we need to speak up.

 

1 hour ago, JAG said:

rapidly emerging threats to democracy, human rights and labour in their own country.

tell us what these threats are? WE have a written constitution and a system that enforces it.

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

The Trump administration has dispatched a team of diplomats to the UK to investigate what it views as a troubling erosion of free speech rights, particularly regarding pro-life activists.

Yes is called protection women’s right to make their own health choices.

 

Your freedom of speech stops at the surface of anyone else’s body.

 

Now go for coffee.

 

 

[Gsxrnz]

Trump is well aware that the ultimate weapon of the Marxist Left is accusations and convictions for "wrongthink". 

 

If you can be jailed for wrongthink, you can be jailed for anything or everything. Just ask the KGB. 

[JonnyF]

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

The Trump administration has dispatched a team of diplomats to the UK to investigate what it views as a troubling erosion of free speech rights, particularly regarding pro-life activists.

 

Good to see Trump cares about the free speech of British citizens, even if Starmer doesn't.

 

Thanks Don. 

 

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

 “Since I was arrested simply for the prayers I held in my head, the support from both here in the UK and around the world has been overwhelming.

 

Arrested for silently praying. Sounds like something out of a Monty Python sketch. But no, this is modern Britain. Shameful. 

[brewsterbudgen]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

Good to see Trump cares about the free speech of British citizens, even if Starmer doesn't.

 

Thanks Don. 

 

 

Arrested for silently praying. Sounds like something out of a Monty Python sketch. But no, this is modern Britain. Shameful. 

 

Like it or not, a law is in place to allow women going for abortions to be allowed to do so in privacy and without being hassled by anti-abortion protesters.  If the law is broken, even 'silently', are you suggesting the police should turn a blind eye?  There is no law preventing such protests in other areas.

[JonnyF]

8 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

 

Like it or not, a law is in place to allow women going for abortions to be allowed to do so in privacy and without being hassled by anti-abortion protesters.  If the law is broken, even 'silently', are you suggesting the police should turn a blind eye?  There is no law preventing such protests in other areas.

 

She wasn't "hassling" anyone. 

[brewsterbudgen]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

She wasn't "hassling" anyone. 

Irrelevant.  She was breaking the law.

[Hanaguma]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yes is called protection women’s right to make their own health choices.

 

Your freedom of speech stops at the surface of anyone else’s body.

 

Now go for coffee.

 

 

Not sure when killing a baby became a "health choice". Care to enlighten?

 

And freedom of speech is exactly what is being discussed. If abortion was simply a "health choice", then why is anyone upset about anti-abortion folks near clinics?  It is the same as if a woman was going for a simple outpatient procedure like having a tooth removed. If there were "save the tooth" people outside, why should she worry?

[Hanaguma]

23 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

 

Like it or not, a law is in place to allow women going for abortions to be allowed to do so in privacy and without being hassled by anti-abortion protesters.  If the law is broken, even 'silently', are you suggesting the police should turn a blind eye?  There is no law preventing such protests in other areas.

Why is all this necessary? I mean, abortion is just another medical procedure after all.... same as getting a hangnail removed or lancing a boil...

[brewsterbudgen]

2 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Why is all this necessary? I mean, abortion is just another medical procedure after all.... same as getting a hangnail removed or lancing a boil...

Ask the Conservative government that brought in the law in 2023, on a free parliamentary vote.

[SunnyinBangrak]

A fascist dictator taking another country to task over their banning free speech? Are we sure this freedom fighter is really a fascist dictator?

[Hanaguma]

Just now, brewsterbudgen said:

Ask the Conservative government that brought in the law in 2023, on a free parliamentary vote.

I am asking you.  The previous government is not available for comment.

[brewsterbudgen]

16 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I am asking you.  The previous government is not available for comment.

I have no idea.  I'm just trying to explain the law.  If only Trump was a Forum member here, he'd be more informed.

[Chomper Higgot]

7 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Not sure when killing a baby became a "health choice". Care to enlighten?

 

And freedom of speech is exactly what is being discussed. If abortion was simply a "health choice", then why is anyone upset about anti-abortion folks near clinics?  It is the same as if a woman was going for a simple outpatient procedure like having a tooth removed. If there were "save the tooth" people outside, why should she worry?

Abortion  is not killing babies.

 

Abortion, in the UK, is a personal and private health choice and is not the business of anyone other than the woman seeking an abortion and her health providers.

 

The ‘safe access laws’ (Public Order Act) governing protests near clinics providing abortion services are there precisely to protect the right of women to obtain healthcare privately and without interference from anyone else., religious nuts included.

 

 

 

[hotsun]

this is only fair. Before the election the UK sent people to campaign for harris

[Chomper Higgot]

15 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

A fascist dictator taking another country to task over their banning free speech? Are we sure this freedom fighter is really a fascist dictator?

The applicable law was enacted by the previous Tory Government.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, hotsun said:

this is only fair. Before the election the UK sent people to campaign for harris

No the UK did not.

[hotsun]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

No the UK did not.

I distinctly remember they did and i noticed there was no backlash from the media like with the russian meddling in our politics

[Bkk Brian]

8 hours ago, Social Media said:

Nigel Farage, a long-time Trump ally, commented, “The Lucy Connolly case alone shows that two-tier Britain is really here. My American friends cannot believe what is happening in the UK.”

Also looking at another case..........

 

White House pressures Starmer over Lucy Connolly case
State department says it is monitoring the treatment of mother jailed over Southport tweet as free speech tensions increase

Campaigners raised her case with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, as part of a wider effort to challenge what they regard as draconian hate speech laws across Europe.
A spokesman for the state department said: “We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter.

https://archive.ph/qN1HL

[JonnyF]

4 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Abortion  is not killing babies.

 

Abortion, in the UK, is a personal and private health choice and is not the business of anyone other than the woman seeking an abortion and her health providers.

 

The ‘safe access laws’ (Public Order Act) governing protests near clinics providing abortion services are there precisely to protect the right of women to obtain healthcare privately and without interference from anyone else., religious nuts included.

 

 

 

 

Yes, heaven forbid they are "inconvenienced" by someone silently praying as they head to terminate their unborn child. 

[JonnyF]

1 minute ago, hotsun said:

I distinctly remember they did and i noticed there was no backlash from the media like with the russian meddling in our politics

 

That was the numpties at Labour, not "The UK". 

 

Most of us love and respect Trump. 

[Chomper Higgot]

Examples of why the law to provide safe access zones around clinics offering abortion services linked below:

 

https://www.bpas.org/media/uwflorww/2022-august-clinic-harassment-update.pdf

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Yes, heaven forbid they are "inconvenienced" by someone silently praying as they head to terminate their unborn child. 

Refer linked examples I have provided above.

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, hotsun said:

I distinctly remember they did and i noticed there was no backlash from the media like with the russian meddling in our politics

You remember incorrectly. No person acting on behalf of the UK did any such thing.

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Refer linked examples I have provided above.

 

Nothing to do with someone silently praying.

 

But I understand that you wish to ban protesting about things you personally agree with. 

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You remember incorrectly. No person acting on behalf of the UK did any such thing.

 

Yes, they were volunteers acting on behalf of the UK's ruling Labour party. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62m2pde4p6o

 

[Chomper Higgot]

Just now, JonnyF said:

 

Yes, they were volunteers acting on behalf of the UK's ruling Labour party. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62m2pde4p6o

 

Not the UK in any official capacity at all.

 

[JonnyF]

Just now, Chomper Higgot said:

Not the UK in any official capacity at all.

 

 

Volunteers for the UK government.