Keir Starmer has hit back at US Vice President JD Vance after he accused the UK of “infringements on free speech”.

The comment was made during a question and answer session between the politicians and reporters at the Oval Office.

Turning bright red, Mr Vance said: “Look, I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the UK, and also some of our European allies, but we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British – of course what the British do in their own country is up to them – but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens, so that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch.”

Hitting back at the US politician, Sir Keir said: “Well, we’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time.

“Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across US citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right, but in relation to free speech in the UK I’m very proud of our history there.”

Mr Vance had lectured European nations, including the UK, on free speech during remarks before the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.

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He had said that freedom of expression was “in retreat” across Britain and wider Europe.

Mr Trump’s deputy earlier this month had criticised the UK over a legal case in which a former serviceman who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre.

In a wider attack on what he suggested is a shift away from democratic values across Europe, JD Vance had also claimed the “basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular” are under threat.

He referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who had denied doing so but was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order at the centre in Bournemouth in November 2022.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Mr Vance said that the US’ “very dear friends the United Kingdom” appeared to have seen a “backslide in conscience rights”.