“No free trade without free speech” is the message an anonymous source working on trade relations between the United Kingdom and the United States passed on to the Telegraph. The U.S. is anxiously watching Britain’s turn against free speech, and it may respond with tariffs if something is not done.

Livia Tossici-Bolt stood near an abortion clinic in Bournemouth holding a sign saying “Here to talk if you want.” For this she was arrested—her verdict is expected on Friday. The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Sunday saying it was watching the case and that it was “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.” Tossici-Bolt is far from the only victim; even silent prayer near an abortion clinic has been criminalized.

Increasingly this is looking like the thin end of the wedge. A Labour-run council in England is threatening two years in jail for Christian street preachers. Anyone handing out Bibles, praying for individuals without receiving their consent, or distributing religious literature could be punished by two months in jail for causing “offense” or “distress.” Legal action prompted the council to pause the injunction.

Over the weekend, another story shocked the nation. Two parents complained in a group chat about the way a school handled the process for selecting a new headmaster. As a result, six police officers came to their door to arrest them.

A new employment rights bill could turn workers at pubs, restaurants and hotels into thought police. It requires all employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent its staff from being “harassed” by third parties. What counts as “harassment” could be very broad. If a transexual employee hears something he disagrees with, he could sue his employer for failing to protect him from “harassment.” Free speech groups fear this bill would see controversial speakers canceled, pubs ejecting patrons if their conversations become controversial, and the censorship of chants at sports events.

A fight over two-tier justice has also shocked U.S. audiences. The Sentencing Council, which advises judges, issued guidelines that could see different races receiving different sentences for the same crime. After public backlash, the council has suspended the guidelines, and the government has promised to overturn them. But new advice to police officers tells them to treat the races differently. Clearly this kind of thinking has thoroughly infected Britain’s police and Justice Department.

Will American pressure overturn this? The Labour government is keen to avoid U.S. tariffs. The UK economy is already struggling without them. They may bend as little as possible to avoid U.S. punishment.

But it’s already a sad state of affairs. Britain once helped bring free speech to the world. Now our best hope for free speech seems to be imposed from abroad.

Free speech has always been inseparable from freedom of religion. For most of the last 2,000 years in Europe, church and state worked together to police speech and thought. Now the “religion” is secular, but it is imposing itself in similar ways.

There’s a reason this desire to dominate the thoughts and beliefs of other recurs so regularly in history. As we wrote in the May-June 2024 Trumpet issue:

This urge to dominate the actions, words and very thoughts of others—and to dominate reality itself—is a perverse expression of human nature. …

The Bible traces this nature in man back to a real, actual, intelligent, powerful single source: Lucifer. This great being said, “I will be the most high” (the correct rendering of Isaiah 14:14). He exalted his will over reality to the point of fighting his very Creator to try to seize the ultimate authority in the universe.

The first human beings, and every human since, have followed after this same desire.

This inbuilt desire to dominate the communication, music, relationships, religion and minds of others has a clear source. Restraining it is only possible with the Creator’s intervention in human history. …

The worldwide plunge into censorship, then, is a reversion into what has been powerfully and crushingly normal throughout human history. It is a withdrawal of the unappreciated blessings God has given to the world, largely through British and American influence.

Equality before the law and freedom of conscience are precious gifts. Our rejection of them is a sign of national immorality. While pressure from abroad to change this could do some good, what the nation needs most is repentance from our wrong course.

Our article “The Global War on Free Speech” exposes the spiritual agenda behind this attack on speech worldwide.