As Farage left the chamber, the US congressman Jamie Raskin tried to ask him another question, speculating again that he was on his way to lunch with President Trump.
“One more,” Raskin said as Farage left the chamber. “Blame it on me.”
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate, a British-American non-profit group, said the comparison of the UK to North Korea was “incredibly dispiriting”.
Imran Ahmed, the centre’s chief executive, said Farage had made the “silly and hyperbolic claim” because the UK chose to “protect children online” and place a duty of care on tech firms with the Online Safety Act.
Farage appears desperate to leave the committee
Amid speculation he is scheduled to have lunch at the White House with President Trump, Farage appears desperate to leave.
However, Democrats are taking their time in an apparent attempt to delay Farage’s exit.
“Mr Farage has to leave in a few minutes,” said Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the committee. It takes roughly ten minutes to drive from Capitol Hill to the White House.
Farage dodges questions about lunch with Trump
The Reform leader apologised to the judiciary committee and said he needed to leave. He was asked directly if he was meeting President Trump.
Farage said he couldn’t remember his schedule. “You can’t remember if you’re meeting with the president?” asked Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida.
“I’m not telling you what I’m doing this afternoon,” Farage said. “He’s leaving to have lunch with the president,” Moskowitz asserted.
I did not oppose Gaza march, Farage says
The top Democrat on the judiciary committee has clashed again with Nigel Farage.
Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, questioned the Reform UK leader’s opposition to a pro-Gaza march through London.
Farage said the march took place in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, which was a particularly sensitive day. “I have not opposed people standing up and protesting in favour of people in Gaza,” Farage said.
Raskin said freedom of speech applied “365 days a year” and also accused Farage of banning journalists from the Reform party conference.
“I can’t think of banning anybody,” said Farage. “Maybe somebody else did.”
Democrat queries comparison of UK to North Korea
Jamie Raskin
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS
Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee, drew attention to a study by Reporters without Borders.
The study of press freedom ranked North Korea at number 179 in the world. Raskin said North Korea was like a “totalitarian dungeon” and pointed out that the UK was ranked number 20.
Rowling faced ‘abuse on a huge scale’
JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author
DEBRA HURFORD BROWN
Nigel Farage said JK Rowling came from the “liberal wing of politics”, but that she had “taken a view that women should be safe in women’s spaces”.
“She has faced cancel culture and abuse on a huge scale,” he added.
Rational debate ‘stamped out’ during Covid
Nigel Farage has said rational debate was stamped out during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Reform UK leader said it was a “very dark period”. He added: “It was during Covid when rational debate about many important issues, be it mask-wearing, be it lockdowns, was frankly stamped out.
“This was supported by big social media companies, [and] many — not GB News obviously — but many TV stations.”
Farage accused of appearing in US to solicit donations
Farage has come under fire from Democratic congressmen
NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS
Nigel Farage has denied he is trying to convince President Trump to impose tariffs on the UK after an ill-tempered exchange with a Democratic congressman.
The Reform UK leader was accused of appearing in the US to “ingratiate” himself with tech company bosses such as Elon Musk and solicit donations.
“You need a lot of money to blow up like the Maga movement?” said Hank Johnson, a Democratic congressman from Georgia. “You need money from Elon Musk in order to get elected prime minister of Great Britain?”
Farage denied that was the case and said he was involved in a “public falling out” with Musk.
Johnson said Farage was arguing “that the citizens of Great Britain should pay a tariff if the tech companies violate the laws of Great Britain”. Farage replied: “I’ve not suggested sanctions at all in any way.”
Farage questions silent prayer law
Nigel Farage has questioned a law banning silent prayer outside abortion clinics in the UK.
The Reform party leader said the debate on abortion in Britain and Europe “is in a different place”.
But he said he was “afraid” that people praying silently now have to be “a certain distance away” from abortion clinics.
New definition of Islamophobia will lead to ‘two-tier justice’
Farage preparing to testify before the committee
KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES
Nigel Farage has said “mocking religion” will become an offence if a new definition of Islamophobia is passed.
The Reform UK leader said he was worried freedom of speech would get worse. “The Labour government is intending to pass a law that has a definition of Islamophobia,” he said.
“That will mean criticism of a religion, mocking of a religion, will become an offence … we’re finishing up with two-tier justice.”
Farage described as ‘future prime minister’
Nigel Farage has been described by a Republican as “probably the future prime minister” of the UK.
After he was dismissed by Democrats as a fringe politician, Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California, said Farage was “probably the future prime minister”.
“It’s a very big fringe and we’re doing rather well,” Farage added.
Reform UK is leading Labour by nine points in the polls, according to YouGov. However, during the House judiciary committee hearing, Democrats have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that Farage has just four MPs in parliament.
Online Safety Act ‘is the sledgehammer that missed the nut’
Farage said the act was ineffective at protecting children
KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES
Nigel Farage said the 2023 legislation, which forces tech companies to protect children from harmful content or risk hefty fines, was “designed by Tories with the best of intentions”.
However, he said it was ineffective at protecting children and suggested that phones should be programmed to ban certain apps.
Democrats continue attack on Farage
Democrats have accused Nigel Farage of being a “fringe politician” as they continue their attacks on the Reform party leader.
Jerry Nadler, a Democratic congressman from Manhattan, said there was a “clear and present danger to freedom of speech” in the US. However, it was not across the Atlantic. “It is right here in Washington sitting in the Oval Office,” he said.
Lucy Connolly’s imprisonment ‘disproportionate’
Lucy Connolly put out a tweet that was “intemperate and wrong”, Farage said
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE POLICE/GETTY IMAGES
Nigel Farage has said he wanted to bring Lucy Connolly to the US but was unable to because of “restrictions” following her arrest.
Connolly was sentenced to 31 months in prison for inciting racial hatred after she called on people to “set fire” to migrant hotels. She served less than half her sentence.
Farage said she put out a tweet that was “intemperate and wrong” following the “savage murder” of “three beautiful young girls”. However, he said her imprisonment was disproportionate.
“I wanted to bring her with me today,” he said. “Sadly the restrictions that have been put on her have banned her from making the trip.”
We’re an awful authoritarian state, Farage says
Farage is sworn in before the House judiciary committee
KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES
Nigel Farage has said that Britain has become an “awful authoritarian” state like North Korea.
“I come from the land of the Magna Carta, the mother of parliaments, it doesn’t give me any great joy to be sitting in America describing the awful authoritarian situation we have sunk into,” he said.
Farage referenced the cases of Lucy Connolly and Graham Linehan in his opening statement to the House judiciary committee.
He said the arrest of Linehan at Heathrow airport “could happen to any American man or woman who has said something online that the British government doesn’t like”.
“At what point did we become North Korea?” he added.
Farage lambasted for being a ‘Trump sycophant’
Jamie Raskin, a senior Democrat, has said British voters should think twice before voting for a “Trump sycophant” like Nigel Farage, in a combative opening statement.
Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee, said the Reform leader was “most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing free speech”.
He said there was “no free speech crisis in Britain” and that no one stopped Farage from appearing on Russian TV “17 times”.
He urged Reform voters to visit the US before supporting Farage to see what “Trump and Maga are doing to our freedom”, adding: “You might think twice before you let Mr Farage make Britain great again.”
Farage is a ‘far-right, pro-Putin politician’
Jamie Raskin, the most senior Democrat on the House judiciary committee, accused Republicans of “promoting far-right parties in Europe”. He described Nigel Farage as a “far-right pro-Putin politician”.
He said Reform only had four MPs in parliament and questioned why Farage had been summoned to give evidence on free speech given the state of media freedom in the US.
“Republicans are vilifying European liberal democracies,” he said.
‘Europe is attacking free speech around the world’
A Republican congressman has accused the UK and the EU of trying to “shake down” US tech companies with “censorship laws”.
Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, said companies such as Facebook and X provided the “modern town square”.
He accused the UK and EU of targeting US firms with the Online Safety Act and the Digital Services Act because European tech companies had languished behind their American counterparts. “Europe is attacking free speech around the world, including here in America,” he said.
The high-profile cases likely to dominate the hearing
Nigel Farage said he would urge the US to “be vigilant”
JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS
Before the hearing, Farage said: “The Graham Linehan case is yet another example of the war on freedom of speech in the UK. I will discuss this, the Lucy Connolly case and the increasing role of our police in non-crime ‘hate’ incidents on Capitol Hill.
“Free speech is under assault and I am urging the USA to be vigilant.”
Lucy Connolly was sentenced to 31 months in prison for inciting racial hatred after she called on people to “set fire” to migrant hotels during the Southport riots that followed the murder of three young girls at a dance class by Axel Rudakubana.
Earlier this year, JD Vance, the vice president, also raised the case of Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran from Southampton who was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic.
‘War’ on freedom of speech in the UK
Nigel Farage will tell US congressmen today there is a “war” on freedom of speech in the UK.
The Reform UK leader is in Washington, where he is expected to raise the case of Graham Linehan, the comedian arrested this week at Heathrow airport over his anti-trans tweets.
Farage is officially giving evidence to the House judiciary committee about the UK’s Online Safety Act, which compels US tech companies to stop children from seeing harmful content on the internet.