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JD Vance has sparked a furious backlash for delivering an anti-immigration speech at the Munich Security Conference in which he attacked European leaders and backed those who voted for Brexit.
The US vice-president was accused of “hypocrisy” and his speech described as “bizarre and dangerous” as he departed from the usual defence focus of speeches at the conference to lash out at the UK and EU over migration and free speech.
Vance stunned gathered delegates as he lashed out at governments across the continent and accused Europe of “retreating from some of its most fundamental values”, claiming that freedom is in danger across the continent.
And he urged European countries to stem the flow of illegal migration, adding that voters do not want the “floodgates” open to millions.
“No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants,” he said.
Turning to the UK, he added: “You know what they did vote for in England? They voted for Brexit and, agree or disagree, they voted for it.
“And more and more all over Europe, they’re voting for political leaders who promised to put an end to out-of-control migration.
“Now, I happen to agree with a lot of these concerns, but you don’t have to agree with me.”
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller told The Independent: “Britain will not take lectures about political freedoms from the acolyte of a president who tried to undermine American democracy and now praises Putin. The British people will see straight through this hypocrisy.”
And the Green Party described Mr Vance’s speech as “bizarre and dangerous”.
Ellie Chowns, the party’s parliamentary spokesperson on foreign affairs said: “US vice-president JD Vance’s use of the Munich Security Conference to lambast allies rather than focus on the real chaos-makers in the world is sadly predictable but no less bizarre and dangerous for that.
“President Trump’s administration seems determined to usher in a new world where old friends are discarded and new friends made of dangerous autocrats.
“The UK should have no part of that and should work with others to protect international frameworks and institutions that support co-operation and the rule of law.”
Mr Vance said security usually means “threats to our external security”, but that while Donald Trump is concerned with European security, the threat he worries the most about in Europe “is not Russia, is not China, is not any other external actor”.
“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” he added.
Mr Vance also 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.
He claimed a “backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs”.
Mr Vance referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order in November 2022.
In a wider attack on what he suggested was a shift away from democratic values in Europe, he told the conference: “A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.
“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before.
“Now the officers were not moved – Adam was found guilty of (breaking) the government’s new buffer zones law, which criminalises silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within 200 metres of an abortion facility. He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution… in Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”
The speech came before a meeting with UK foreign secretary David Lammy, at which the pair are expected to discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Lammy said he looked forward to discussing support for Ukraine and European security with the vice-president.
In comments at the start of the meeting, the foreign secretary described the US-UK relationship as “more than just an alliance, it’s a covenant between two partners”.
He added: “We are committed to increasing defence and encourage our friends across Europe to do the same, and of course we have got important issues to discuss on Ukraine and how we support Ukraine at this difficult moment, and also broader issues of UK-US security.”
Mr Vance said: “Honestly, we have a lot in common, and the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States will remain very strong.
“We are going to talk about something that he and I spoke about a couple of years ago, which is our shared belief that Europe really should take a big role in its own security, and I’m glad the foreign secretary agrees with me on that.
“I think there are other issues of common agreement, I’m sure we will talk about Russia-Ukraine.”
