Keir Starmer stressed the UK guards free speech “preciously” and said he “got on very well” with Vice President JD Vance during Thursday’s meeting.
Speaking to Fox News, Starmer said: “We actually had some exchanges today about things like freedom of speech. We got on very well, by the way.
“We had a really good discussion over lunch and I made clear we’ve had freedom of speech in the United Kingdom for a very, very long time and we guard it preciously.”
Asked if the UK’s Online Safety Act meant it was trying censor speech,Starmer said: “No we don’t believe in censoring speech, but of course we do need to deal with terrorism. We need to deal with paedophiles and issues like that.
“But I talked to the vice president about it today and we had a good exchange about it. And of course, he’s right to champion free speech. We champion free speech in the United Kingdom.”
Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump this week comes at a crucial moment for the war in Ukraine and the future of the Nato alliance. Europe is looking for leaders who can engage Trump on the future of the continent as the US leader appears more inclined to demand tribute from his allies and cosy up to Vladimir Putin. Sir Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador the US, has called this one of the “most consequential meetings of a British prime minister and president that we have had since the second world war”.
Can the “special relationship” between the US and the UK save the day? Or has the era of transatlantic cooperation ended in the era of “America first”? Starmer has already established a friendly rapport with Trump and comes bearing promises to raise defense spending and negotiate on trade, but can that overcome Trump’s impulse to abandon Europe and strike a deal with Russia to end the war as quickly as possible?
The US president is notoriously mercurial. His decisions are said to be influenced by the last person with whom he spoke. On Thursday, that person will be Starmer, who comes to the White House on the heels of France’s Emmanuel Macron to try his best to argue Europe’s case to the new US president.
