If there’s one thing politicians love more than their reflection, it’s a good old-fashioned contradiction. And Keir Starmer, the UK’s Prime Minister and apparent champion of free speech, has outdone himself in spectacular fashion.
In a Fox News interview, he proclaimed, with a straight face, “We don’t believe in censoring speech.” Moments later, in a stunning feat of verbal gymnastics, he pivoted to discussing terrorism and pedophiles as if posting an edgy meme on X is the gateway drug to joining ISIS.
More: Keir Starmer’s Censorship Playbook
Starmer’s comments come amid an alarming government-led crackdown on online discourse. Under his watch, police have been knocking on doors over social media posts that have precisely nothing to do with terrorism, child exploitation, or any other actual crime. And if that weren’t enough, his administration is plowing ahead with the Online Safety Act, a legislative train wreck that gives bureaucrats the power to decide which words are acceptable and which should be digitally incinerated.
The Online Safety Act, for instance, hands unprecedented censorship powers to the state under the noble guise of “protecting” people from harmful content, a concept so vague it might as well include offensive tea preferences.
Meanwhile, the police seem to have an infinite amount of time to monitor tweets, yet actual crimes like, say, burglary are often met with a shrug and a crime reference number for insurance purposes. If only criminals left mean Facebook comments at the scene of the crime, perhaps something would be done.
Across the pond, US Vice President JD Vance has been watching this slow-motion implosion with growing concern. During Starmer’s visit to Washington, Vance didn’t hold back. He pointed out correctly that Britain’s war on free expression isn’t only bad for Brits. It’s also a problem for American tech companies, which are being strong-armed into enforcing the UK’s digital morality laws.
Speaking in Washington, Vance doubled down on his critique, reminding Starmer and his cohort that free speech is “in retreat” across Europe. But Starmer, ever the master of deflection, dismissed these concerns with the kind of nonchalance one might expect from a man who doesn’t have to live under his own policies. “We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom, and it will last for a very, very long time,” he insisted, as if he were defending a priceless heirloom rather than systematically dismantling it.
His words might carry more weight if his government weren’t actively policing thought crimes with the enthusiasm of a Victorian moral crusader patrolling the streets for exposed ankles. If Britain guards free speech so “preciously,” why do people keep getting arrested for tweets?
