Nigel Farage has called on US politicians and businesses to push back against Britain’s approach to free speech, even comparing the UK to North Korea.

Speaking in Washington DC, the Reform UK leader gave evidence at a congressional hearing on whether European laws could limit Americans’ right to free expression. He pointed to cases like Father Ted writer Graham Linehan’s arrest at Heathrow this week, and the jailing of Lucy Connolly over a racist tweet, as signs of what he described as “the really awful authoritarian situation that the UK has sunk into.”

But his appearance wasn’t exactly a warm welcome. Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin branded Farage a “Putin-loving free speech impostor,” while others dismissed him as a fringe politician trying to impress American tech figures.

Farage insisted he wasn’t asking for sanctions on Britain, but urged US companies and lawmakers to have “honest conversations” with the UK government. In written recommendations, he had suggested America use “diplomacy and trade” to defend free speech.

Back home, Labour ministers slammed him. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Farage was “hyping up the prospect” of harming UK trade with its closest ally, calling it “about as anti-British as you can get.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused him of “badmouthing our country” abroad.

Much of Farage’s criticism focused on the Online Safety Act, a law designed to make the internet safer, especially for children. The act forces platforms like Facebook and X to remove illegal content, crack down on harmful material such as child abuse, drugs, and weapons, and stop young users from accessing pornography or suicide-related content.

Farage said he agreed kids should be protected but argued the law hands “extraordinary and arbitrary powers” to Ofcom, the UK regulator. He pledged his party would repeal it if elected. Labour has defended the act as a “huge step forward” for online safety.

During the hearing, some Republicans welcomed Farage’s testimony, but Democrats pushed back hard. Congressman Raskin even mocked Reform UK’s own record, pointing out that its councillors in Nottinghamshire were banned from speaking to a local paper.

Farage brushed off the criticism, saying he regularly takes questions from a wide range of journalists, and added he planned to meet Nottinghamshire Council’s leader Mick Barton on Friday for “a little chat.” Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia commons.