US reportedly pressuring Britain to release an anti-abortion activist in the UK as a condition of tariff relief. The UK denies this, but as I have pointed out they are trying very hard to salvage whatever they can with the US after Brexit wrecked them.
Source reportedly says ‘no free trade without free speech’ after US bureau holds meeting with anti-abortion campaigner
www.theguardian.com
The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has denied that the issue of free speech has featured in tariff negotiations with the US after reports a deal could be jeopardised by the outcome of a criminal case in Dorset.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), an office within the US Department of State, has met anti-abortion campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt, who was prosecuted for an alleged breach of a buffer zone outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic. The verdict is due on Friday following a trial at Poole magistrates court.
In a statement after the meeting, posted on X, the bureau said: “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“However, as Vice President JD Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.”
It added: “We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday quoted an unnamed US source which the paper said was familiar with trade negotiations as warning there would be “no free trade without free speech”, when asked about the DRL comments.
When asked about the reports, Reynolds, who heads the Department for Business and Trade, said free speech had not formed part of the trade negotiations in which he had been involved.