The political assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk has become a key moment in the battle for free speech.
In Britain, the US and the West, we now have a big decision to make. Will we stand on the side of those like who believed passionately in open debate, and was shot dead for daring to say what he believed at a university?
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks out about the assassination of Charlie Kirk
Or will we allow our freedom of speech to be curbed by those who want to shout down, and now even shoot down, people expressing views they don’t like?
We know that bullet casings found at the murder scene were marked with left-wing symbols and slogans – “Hey fascists! Catch!”. It is the intolerant left that poses the biggest threat to free speech today.
It begins with trying to “No platform” or cancel anybody who questions left-wing dogmas such as trans ideology or defends Israel.
It can end with somebody taking that intolerance a violent step further and deciding to “cancel” a conservative patriot such as Charlie for good.
Charlie Kirk’s grief-stricken widow Erika speaks for first time since his murder
These are not problems for America alone. Only a week before assassination I was in Washington DC, to tell members of the House Judiciary Committee about the crisis of free speech in the UK.
I talked about the threat posed by the Online Safety Act (OSA), passed by the last Tory government and enforced by Labour.
Like all Orwellian laws, the OSA does the opposite of what it claims. It will not make our children safer online, but it does endanger free speech for adults on big issues such as mass immigration or the rape gangs.
I discussed with members of Congress how our “hate speech” laws have turned Britain’s coppers into 21st century thought police, knocking on ordinary people’s doors over “offensive” posts rather than chasing real criminals.
This crackdown came to a head when Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan was arrested by five armed police at Heathrow airport, because he posted three sarcastic tweets from America which upset a trans activist.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.
It gave me no joy to sit in the US Congress describing the authoritarian mess we have sunk into.
After all, Britain is the home of the Magna Carta, the nation that first exported many of the ideas of liberty and democracy to the US and the world.
This week we welcome to our shores.
I spoke to the President in the Oval Office about how the hostility to free speech shown by the British Government and its allies in the European Union poses a risk to our democracy at home, and to UK-US relations.
Let President visit, in the wake of the assassination of his close friend be the moment when the British and American people take up the fight for free speech together.
Of course, free speech does not mean the right to incite violence against your opponents.
Everybody on left and right should accept that, with the freedom to be heard comes the responsibility to criticise the other side’s ideas, not slander individuals.
We have seen this week despicable posts online, celebrating the political murder of a young husband and father as if it was a blow against “fascism”.
Over here, leading left-wing MP John McDonnell tried to brand my party, Reform UK, a “proto-fascist” organisation, with me supposedly cast in the role of Hitler-style “demagogue”.
Charlie Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah,
Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah
How low can these people go? Repeatedly comparing your opponents to the Nazis is not only a sure sign that you have lost the argument. It could also stir up anger and hatred that can lead to dire consequences.
And we want a level playing field. Will the police arrest those on TikTok who called for me to be shot after Charlie’s murder?
I can assure Sun on Sunday readers that nobody representing Reform will ever engage in lowlife abuse. What a Reform UK government will do is stand firm for free speech in Britain and seek to break the legal shackles that stop people expressing legitimate opinions.
That includes that Online Safety Act. Like every other parent and grandparent in the country, I want to protect children online. But I’m afraid the OSA is using a sledgehammer to miss the nut altogether. We need to find a better way.
The growing support for Reform UK, and the tide of national flags now sweeping the country, show that the people of Britain are finding their voice. We will not be silenced again.
This week, my friend will be shown artefacts from the life of Sir Winston Churchill when he stays at Chequers during his state visit.
Our great wartime leader was a man who spent his life fighting for free speech against tyrants around the world.
We owe it to Sir Winston to take up this fight and defend free speech, because no democracy is safe unless everyone living can speak their mind free from fear of persecution.
