Nigel Farage called out in US for 'backing free speech' while banning journalists

Nigel Farage was called out for claiming to support free speech while banning journalists from covering his party.

The Reform UK leader is in Washington DC giving evidence to a committee of Congress, attacking Britain's online safety and hate speech laws as being an attack on freedom of speech.

But in a Donald Trump-esque move, Reform's council leader at Nottingham County Council last month banned reporters from Nottinghamshire Live and the Nottingham Post and the local democracy reporting service from receiving the party's press notices and interviewing him or the 40 elected Reform councillors in the area.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat member of the House Judiciary Committee called out Farage over the hypocrisy.

"Why would you be on journalists who oppose your reviews from coming to your events?" He asked.

"Why did you tell your party ...why did you tell local government not to do interviews with your local newspaper?"

Farage gesticulated, claiming to be entirely open and transparent with the press.

Mr Raskin said: "Yes, you're the handsomest man in the world.

"But that's not my question. My question for you is legit.

"Why do you ban journalists if they disagree with your political views?"

Farage denied that was the case, and that in his time as leader he "couldn't think of any" times that had happened.

Earlier in the session, Farage was branded a 'far-right politician", who leads a "fringe party."

Democrat ranking member Jamie Raskin also said he was a "Putin-loving free speech imposter" and a "Trump sycophant".

He said: "Mr Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world."

"To the people of the UK who think this Putin loving free speech imposter will protect free speech, come over to America and see what Donald Trump is doing in this country," Mr Raskin said, ahead of Farage's evidence.

"You might think twice before you let Mr Farage make Britain great again."

Farage said he wanted to bring Lucy Connolly to Washington DC as "living proof of what can go wrong" with free speech.

The Reform UK leader, in his evidence to the US House Judiciary Committee, raised the arrest of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan for his comments on social media about trans people, and the jailing of Connolly for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers in the aftermath of the Southport murders last year.

"It doesn't give me any great joy to be sitting in America and describing the really awful authoritarian situation that we have now sunk into," Mr Farage said.

Of Connolly's social media post that lead to her guilty plea and imprisonment, he said: "It was intemperate, it was wrong, but she removed it three-and-a-half hours later. Sentenced to 31 months in prison. She's now out, having served 40% of the time.

"I wanted to bring her with me today as living proof of what can go wrong.

"Sadly, the restrictions that have been put on her banned her from making the trip, which is a very, very great shame."