Vance: Free speech ‘in retreat’ in UK

To Germany, where the Munich Security Conference is in full swing. The city is hosting a number of political bigwigs – although Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn’t make an appearance – including US Vice President JD Vance. Addressing the conference this afternoon, the VP gave a rather punchy speech, first taking aim at Nato before claiming that ‘in Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat’. Crikey.

Using the example of abortion buffer zones to describe how the ‘religious liberties’ of Britons were being curbed, the VP stressed his concerns about the role of the state in European countries and the UK. Going on, Vance told the conference:

The threat that I worry the most about vis à vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.