Democrat who called Farage a 'Putin-loving free speech impostor' brands UK-North Korea comparison 'shameful'

Nigel Farage was in Washington yesterday to give evidence to the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, claiming free speech in the UK is rapidly worsening.

But before he could give his evidence, in which he would compare the UK to North Korea, Democrat representative Jamie Raskin issued a brutal indictment of the Reform chief.

Mr Raskin said: "To the people of the UK who think this Putin-loving free speech impostor and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in this country, come on over to America and see what Trump and Maga are doing to destroy our freedom ... you might ... think twice before you let Mr Farage make Britain great again."

Read more: 'It's good to be back': Nigel Farage posts selfie with Donald Trump from Oval Office

Now, speaking to LBC’s Andrew Marr, Mr Raskin has branded Farage’s comments comparing the UK to North Korea “shameful” as he warned a Trump-style government in Britain could usher in a period of authoritarianism.

He said: “This was an attack on one of her greatest democratic allies on earth for purely partisan political gain.

“I thought it was a shameful spectacle.”

He went on to list a wave of allegations against the Trump administration, accusing his own government of being authoritarian.

“They're covering up for the fact that the USA is dropping in all of the ratings of free speech and free press because of Donald Trump's attack on ABC, CBS, NBC, 60 Minutes.

“He's suing the media personally for billions of dollars and then using the FCC, our broadcast regulator, in order to shake them down and then extracting millions of dollars for them for his own purposes.

“That's the authoritarian future that the people of UK should save themselves from, because that's what the authoritarians of the world and the autocrats are trying to do.”

Mr Farage began his speech by outlining the importance of free speech that "We'll fight and defend to the death".

He said: "Your right to say something that we fundamentally disagree with, that is the absolute foundation, if you think about it, of free speech, of democracy, of living in freedom.

"It's kind of why we fought two world wars at massive, massive cost to defend that very principle."

He said he first became worried about free speech with the emergence of "cancel culture", specifically speakers being banned from universities because their opinions might offend.

While Mr Farage recognised the concerns of all parents about what children are seeing online, he slammed the Online Safety Act saying "we're not finding the right solutions".

He said: "I come from the land of Magna Carta. I come from a land that gave us the mother of Parliament.

"So 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 referenced the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers - something that she pleaded guilty to.

Following the horrific murder of three children in Southport, Connolly wrote on X: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... If that makes me racist, so be it.”

Mr Farage failed to include the comment Connolly was jailed for in his speech, instead saying she "put out an intemperate Tweet after the savage murder of those three beautiful young girls".

He added: "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."

Mr Farage also referenced the "extraordinary events" of the arrest of Graham Linehan over online comments.

He went on to warn Americans they could face the same treatment, saying: "He's not even a British citizen, he's an Irish citizen.

"This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow, that has said things online that the British government and British police don't like."

Mr Farage concluded: "So I've come today as well to be a klaxon, to say to you, don't allow, piece by piece, this to happen here in America.

"And you would be doing us and yourselves and all freedom loving people a favour if your politicians and your businesses said to the British government, you've simply got this wrong.

"At what point did we become North Korea? Well, I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago at Heathrow Airport.

"This is a genuinely worrying, concerning and shocking situation and I thank you for the opportunity to come here today."