Britain's chances of dodging massive tariff bills from the USA could rest on the verdict - due today - in the case of the Dorset pensioner prosaecuted for holding up a sign near an abortion clinic.
Pro-life campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt was charged with a public order offence, and her case has been highlighted by the US Government, has blasted the UK as an “international embarrassment” for suppressing free speech and shutting down pro-life protests.
The Dorset pensioner is being prosecuted for holding up a sign within an abortion clinic buffer zone reading “Here to talk if you want”.
“It deeply saddens me that the UK is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech”, she says.
Tossici-Bolt’s words come after the US Government department, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), said it was “concerned” about the status of freedom of expression in the UK in the light of her case.
The pensioner from Dorset, who is a former medical researcher at Southampton’s University Hospital Trust, has been accused of violating the local public space protection order (PSPO) in place around the British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion clinic in Bournemouth.
Local authorities issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, which Tossici-Bolt refused to pay, claiming that she did not breach the PSPO, and had the right, under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, which protects freedom of speech, to offer consensual conversations.
After posting on X “We are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom”, the US Government department, DRL, outlined their concerns regarding Tossici-Bolt’s case.
“While recently in the UK, DRL Senior Advisor Sam Samson met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, who faces criminal charges for offering conversation within a legally prohibited “buffer zone” at an abortion clinic. We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression”, the DRL posted.
The Telegraph reported that a source familiar with trade negotiations, referring to the DRL’s comments about Tossici-Bolt’s case on X, told the paper there should be “no free trade without free speech”. The paper referred to this as “a stance” that is “thought to have become a point of contention between the two nations”.
Tossici-Bolt responded to the intervention by criticising the “increase of censorship” in the UK, which she called “tragic”. She said “’I am grateful to the US State Department for taking note of my case. Great Britain is supposed to be a free country, yet I’ve been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation”.
Tossici-Bolt added “’Peaceful expression is a fundamental right – no one should be criminalised for harmless offers to converse”.
“It is tragic to see that the increase of censorship in this country has made the US feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties”.
Tossici-Bolt said a police officer told her someone had complained about her presence after she had been standing opposite the Bournemouth clinic for two hours on 2 March. She believes the police could not provide a legitimate reason for her to leave and could not “see how someone standing there can be seen as harassment and intimidation”.
She added “My signs are solidarity signs. I am just there to offer support. I rejoice when a life is saved. People can say yes or no when they see me”.
“I always made sure I did not come across as aggressive. I always try and do it in a loving way. I never tell people to terminate. If they decide to go ahead with the abortion then we can offer support afterwards”.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, who is supporting Tossici-Bolt’s legal defence, was critical of the UK’s status as “a bastion of free speech”, saying “We cannot consistently claim the UK is a bastion of free speech when law-abiding citizens like Livia are prosecuted for nothing other than peacefully offering to speak to people”.
“It is right for the US State Department and JD Vance to warn the UK that censorship is antithetical to freedom, democracy, and societal flourishing”.