Keir Starmer humiliated as US slams Britain’s ‘worsening human rights’ in bombshell report
The United States has published a damning report into the crisis of free speech and civil liberties in the UK.
A damning new report from the US State Department has condemned the crisis of free speech and human rights in Keir Starmer’s Britain. The official new dossier on Britain’s civil liberties warns that the UK human rights situation has “worsened during the year”, amid “serious restrictions on freedom of expression”. It comes at an awkward time as JD Vance holidays in the UK.
The report is a humiliating moment for the UK’s reputation abroad, with Keir Starmer’s government coming under huge fire for its crackdown on freedom of expression in the wake of last year’s Southport killings. The US foreign office report highlights the UK government calling on companies, including US social media firms “to censor speech deemed misinformation or ‘hate speech’”. It also flags widespread claims of a “two-tier” justice system in Britain following Axel Rudakubana’s murder spree, branding it “an especially grievous example of government censorship, censorship of ordinary Britons”.
Britain has been condemned over worsening human rights (Image: Getty)
Also under fire are the so-called “public spaces protection orders”, which allow councils to limit free speech rights within designated areas such as abortion clinics.
It adds: “These restrictions on freedom of speech could include prohibitions on efforts to influence others when inside a restricted area, even through prayer or silent protests.”
The Online Safety Act, which came into force this summer and forces adults to verify their ages to access certain websites, also comes under fire over the threat to ban the encryption of websites, which therefore threatens user privacy.
The report lashes out at levels of antisemitism in Britain, warning that since Hamas’ brutal October 2023 attack, there has been a “large increase in antisemitic incidents across the UK.”
It adds: “On January 29, a potentially lethal antisemitic attack was averted in London by employees of a kosher store, who fended off a knife-wielding attacker. On February 12, a Jewish chaplain for universities in the Yorkshire area and his family were subjected to death threats and harassment after a campaign was launched to oust him from his position because of his Israeli Defense Force service during the Israel-Hamas War. The chaplain and his family were forced to go into hiding because of the campaign.”
The US foreign office slammed Britain’s declining civil liberties (Image: Getty)
The report concludes that there is a “Significant human rights issue” in Britain, with “serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including enforcement of or threat of criminal or civil laws in order to limit expression; and crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by antisemitism.”
It adds that the government has been “inconsistent” in dealing with officials who have committed human rights abuses including crackdowns on freedom of speech and expression.
The publication of the official US government report this morning is doubly embarrassing for Keir Starmer, given Vice President JD Vance is currently holidaying in the Cotswolds.
On his visit to David Lammy’s grace-and-favour mansion, Mr Vance warned Britain not to go down a “very dark path” of losing free speech.
He said he has “raised concerns” about free speech in the United States, and accused Europe and the West of “censoring rather than engaging” with freedom of expression.
He said in front of the cameras: “I think the entire collective West, the transatlantic relationship, our NATO allies, certainly the United States under the Biden administration, got a little too comfortable with censoring rather than engaging with a diverse array of opinions. So that’s been my view.
“Obviously, I’ve raised some criticism, concerns about our friends on this side of the Atlantic.
“But the thing that I’d say to the people of England or anybody else, to David, is many of the things that I worry most about were happening in the United States from 2020 to 2024.
“I just don’t want other countries to follow us down what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration.”
When asked about the state of freedom of speech in Britain by journalists while visiting Donald Trump in Scotland, Sir Keir Starmer insisted: “We have had free speech for a long time so, er, we’re very proud of that.”
