Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says free speech is “under threat” because the law has “overreached” while policing people’s opinions.
Her comments to the Sunday Telegraph come in the wake of US vice president JD Vance’s claims freedom of expression was “in retreat” across Britain and wider Europe.
Ms Badenoch urged Britons to “fight” for free speech, saying she supported those “questioning the status quo”.
“Free speech is precious – and under threat. We must fight for it. It challenges dangerous orthodoxies and sparks change,” she said.
Ms Badenoch – who also said she “hates cancel culture” believes the Government has overstepped while trying to keep people from “perceived” harm.
“Rules to protect people from ‘perceived’ harm have overreached. Being upset or offended shouldn’t be the state’s concern,” she said.
“Silencing free speech harms democracy, culture and individual resilience. Without free speech, false ideas thrive unchallenged.”
The vice president’s comments were made to the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
Mr Vance claimed the erosion of free speech posed a greater threat to the UK than Russia or China.
He also criticised the UK over a legal case in which a former serviceman who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre.
In a wider attack on what he suggested is a shift away from democratic values across Europe, JD Vance claimed the “basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular” are under threat.
He referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who had denied doing so but was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order at the centre in Bournemouth in November 2022.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Mr Vance said that the US’ “very dear friends the United Kingdom” appeared to have seen a “backslide in conscience rights”.
