Nigel Farage has been urged to explain why a US anti-abortion advocacy group helped arrange a meeting in London with Trump administration officials and diplomats. The meeting, first reported by the New York Times, took place in March between Farage and a delegation from Trump’s state department, brokered by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) group. Discussions reportedly covered abortion rights, free speech and online safety laws.
The Liberal Democrats accused Farage of working with Trump officials and anti-abortion campaigners to water down women’s rights. Deputy leader Daisy Cooper called on the government to summon the US ambassador to investigate “what looks like a blatant attempt to interfere in the UK’s domestic laws”. She said: “Nigel Farage needs to come clean … and explain if his party would weaken women’s rights if he came to power.”
ADF, which supports free speech and religious freedom, has worked in Britain to challenge prosecutions of Christians arrested for praying silently outside abortion clinics. The group said it was not present at the meeting and had never met with Reform UK politicians to discuss abortion law. An ADF International spokesman said: “The Liberal Democrats have made allegations here that are simply wrong.”
Reform UK was approached for comment. Farage denied speaking against abortion, telling the New York Times that abortion was “No 468” on Reform UK’s agenda and that he had “hardly ever spoken about it in 30 years”. He added: “My point was that the 24-week limit was looking in serious jeopardy given that we actually spend a fortune saving babies at 22 weeks. Maybe we need to rethink all of that because there is clearly a legal inconsistency.”
The New York Times also reported that ADF helped arrange Farage’s three-hour testimony to US Congress earlier this year, where he criticised the Online Safety Act. A US embassy spokesman said officials regularly met those from different faiths and “elements of the political spectrum” in Britain and “anywhere else where freedom of expression is under threat”.
