[ad_1]
A Christian cabinet minister has said he doesn’t agree with JD Vance’s claim that “basic liberties of religious Britons” are under threat.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the UK and America “don’t have to agree on everything” after the US vice president gave a speech criticising the UK and Europe.
Politics live: Steel tariffs ‘negative’ for both sides of Atlantic
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, Mr Vance claimed that “the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs”.
He also claimed that “in Britain, and across Europe, free speech I fear is in retreat”.
Asked for his reaction, Mr Reynolds said: “We don’t have to agree on everything and I think that’s one area where we would disagree.
“I speak as a Christian myself. No one is subject to any kind of enforcement from the state for praying in this country.”
In his speech, Mr Vance referred to the conviction of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor, who was given a conditional discharge for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.
Safe zones outside abortion clinics are designed to stop anti-abortion campaigners from leafleting, holding vigils, or showing graphic images to people near the sites.
Proponents of the zones say women using a clinic can feel intimidated and distressed by the presence of someone standing in the area praying, even if they are not speaking – but critics argue the rule undermines the right to freedom of religion and free speech.
Mr Reynolds said that having an abortion “free of intimidation or harassment” is “an important British value”.
His comments struck a different tone to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who told the Sunday Telegraph free speech is “under threat” because the law has “overreached” while policing people’s opinions.
She did not directly address the safe zone remarks but more…
[ad_2]
