News about the US-UK relationship
UK/USA: Pro-lifer thanks Vance for highlighting UK censorship
US Vice President J D Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference may have been overshadowed by his widely-denounced public argument with the President of Ukraine in the White House, but at least one Englishman is grateful for Vance’s intervention in Germany.
In Munich, Vance attacked European countries for their denial of freedom of expression, saying “The backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs”.
Vance quoted the case of Adam Smith-Connor, a UK citizen arrested for silently praying within an abortion clinic ‘buffer zone’. His prayer was for his unborn son who was aborted 22 years ago, which the army veteran now regrets. Smith-Connor was convicted of breaching the law, given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £9,000. He thanked Vance for “showcasing the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in the UK and… holding the UK accountable for prosecuting innocent people”.
Smith-Connor also told The Telegraph that while the US is “recommitting to free speech”, he believes the Labour government is taking the UK in the opposite direction.
USA: Massachusetts smears pro-life centres
The American Centre for Law & Justice (ACLJ) reports that the state of Massachusetts is running a huge propaganda campaign against pro-life centres.
ACLJ’s Chief Counsel, Jay Sekulow, says the state is “trying to shut down pro-life pregnancy centres to pressure women into getting abortions. The state is funding a multimillion-dollar media blitz, spreading state-sponsored lies and misinformation about what it calls ‘anti-abortion centres’.”
In response the ACLJ has begun a lawsuit against the campaign and launched a $500,000 counter-campaign “to combat the mass deception”.
USA: Trump sets up task force on anti-Christian bias
Few Britons will be unaware of President Trump’s headline-grabbing economic and foreign policies since his return to office, but many of his pro-Christian policies may have gone under the radar.
While his stance on Ukraine and cuts to USAID may not have gone down well with his US evangelical supporters, his support for Israel, for pro-life issues and his removal of transgender ideology in government departments has undoubtedly pleased them. But British Christians may not be informed about another policy that has gone largely unreported in the UK – the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which Trump created with an executive order on 6 February.
In his campaign for a second term, Donald Trump promised to make American Christians safe again. Setting up this ‘anti-woke’ task force is keeping his promise. In recent years, particularly under Democrat President Joe Biden, Christians in the US have been taken to court again and again for standing up for their morals, be it on freedom of speech, protecting the unborn, LGBTQ+ issues or for opposing men identifying as women and entering women’s sports or safe spaces. In his executive order setting up the new task force, Trump wrote: “The task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide. (Photo – President Trump is keeping his promise to defend Christian liberties
. Credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia)
“It is the policy of the United States, and the purpose of this order, to protect the religious freedoms of Americans and end the anti-Christian weaponisation of government.” (President Trump)
The executive order states that Attorney General Pam Bondi will call regular meetings of all the cabinet members and heads of government departments, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, to monitor how they are tackling anti-Christian bias. Deseret News reports that Bondi’s task force will “identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices or conduct’”, initially for a two-year period. The organisation will also consult religious leaders to see if and how religious liberty legislation needs amending.
Andrew Halloway is a British freelance editor, writer and publishing consultant. He is also editor of Good News—a national monthly evangelistic newspaper (www.goodnews-paper.org.uk). Andrew has 18 years’ experience as an editor and publishing manager in the Christian publishing world, and holds a first class honours degree in Humanities. He has long had an interest in the creation/evolution debate, and is the contributing editor of ‘The Delusion of Evolution’, a magazine-style evangelistic booklet that has sold over 23,000 copies in the UK (available from www.newlife.co.uk).