Trump team anger as UK anti-abortion protester’s conviction sparks free speech row
THE conviction of an anti-abortion protester threatens to worsen a free speech row with the US — after Donald Trump’s team voiced concern on the case.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, warned it was a “dark day for Great Britain” as she was found guilty of breaching a buffer zone by an abortion clinic.
The retired NHS medical scientist said the US State Department was right to be concerned as her conviction had “serious implications for the entire Western world”.
President Trump’s administration had been monitoring the case. On Sunday, it had said: “It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
A US source even suggested it could derail talks with Britain over tariffs, claiming there could be “no free trade without free speech”.
Tossici-Bolt stood quietly with a placard saying “Here to talk, if you want” on two occasions in March 2023 in Bournemouth — but was prosecuted for refusing to leave.
Yesterday, she was given a two-year conditional discharge at Poole magistrates’ court and told to pay costs of £20,026.
The dual UK-Italian citizen said: “I was not protesting and did not harass or obstruct anyone.
“All I did was offer consensual conversation in a public place, as is my basic right, and yet the court found me guilty.
“Freedom of expression is in a state of crisis in the UK. What has happened to this country?”
The White House is reportedly now looking to go further on the issue — by actively identifying and supporting other UK-based campaigners who believe that they have been silenced.
Downing Street said it was vital women using abortion services could do so without harassment and the right to protest did not “give people the right to harass others”.
The PM’s spokesman added Britain has “a very proud tradition of free speech over many centuries, and we remain proud of it today”.