Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has warned the US Congress that censorship laws in Britain will have a stifling effect on free speech in the West.
He is urging the American government to pressure London to adhere to its values of liberty.
Appearing before the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Farage likened his native country of Britain to “North Korea” with its increasingly censorious stance towards online speech.
He said: “We’ve kind of forgotten the Voltairian principles that we will fight and defend to the death your right to say something that we fundamentally disagree with. That is the absolute foundation, if you think about it, of free speech, of democracy, of living in freedom”.
Breitbart reports: Mr Farage pointed to the arrest of Father Ted creator Graham Linehan in London this week over social media posts about transgenderism as an example of the creeping authoritarianism in his country.
“He put out some tweets months ago when he was in Arizona, and months later, he arrives at Heathrow Airport to be met by five armed police,” Mr Farage told the committee.
“He’s not even a British citizen. He’s an Irish citizen. This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow that has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like.”
“At what point did we become North Korea? Well I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago,” he lamented.
“He’s not even a British citizen. He’s an Irish citizen. This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow that has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like.”
“At what point did we become North Korea? Well I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago,” he lamented.
Unsurprisingly, pro-censorship Democrats at the hearing attempted to dismiss concerns and to tarnish Mr Farage as a witness, with Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) accusing Farage of being “far-right”, and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) claiming that Mr Farage was a “fringe” politician, despite Farage having led the Brexit campaign and currently leading the most popular party in the United Kingdom.