Ex-Trump ambassador claims more people jailed in UK for free speech than Russia

Ex-Trump ambassador claims more people jailed in UK for free speech than RussiaBBC Newsnight

Transcript

00:00But there will be a change.

00:01Right.

00:02You may not have heard, but a former conservative prime

00:04minister who stood shoulder to shoulder

00:07with a former US president, George H.W. Bush,

00:10said at the weekend he found it absolutely odd,

00:13was the word he used, that, for example,

00:17JD Vance, the US vice president, was

00:19talking about a retreat of free speech in Europe and the UK

00:24at the same time as cuddling up to President Putin,

00:28where, if you speak against him, you get put in jail,

00:31where, if you oppose his policies,

00:34you get poisoned, where you can be thrown.

00:36I just have to interrupt you and just

00:38say that there are more people in jail in the UK

00:42because they spoke what they thought was right

00:46or they had interest online than there are in all of Russia.

00:50Oh, my goodness.

00:51I don't know where you've got that from.

00:53I've got a guest here who's laughing his head off at that.

00:55Can I just ask you?