Free speech is 'at risk' in Britain, Kemi Badenoch warned yesterday as she sided with Washington in a row over anti-abortion protests in the UK. The Tory leader said Britain 'should not be persecuting people for expressing themselves' over abortion rights. Her comments came after the US State Department said it was 'concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom' following the prosecution of an anti-abortion campaigner. The row is said to have threatened Sir Keir Starmer's attempts to strike a free trade deal with the US, with the Telegraph reporting a source 'familiar' with the negotiations warned there should be 'no free trade without free speech'. But Downing Street last night played down suggestions of the issues featuring in negotiations as the UK seeks to secure a transatlantic economic deal to mitigate the impact of President Donald Trump's global tariffs. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted yesterday that the issue has not featured in talks, saying: 'It's not been part of the trade negotiations that I've been part of.' It comes as pro-choice campaigners weighed in on the row, accusing the White House of using women's rights to access abortion services as a 'political football'. In a statement, the State Department had said it was 'monitoring' the case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, who was prosecuted after holding up a sign saying 'Here to talk if you want' outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth. The intervention followed a speech by US Vice-President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February in which he warned that free speech in Britain and across Europe was 'in retreat'. But he was accused of 'spreading misinformation' about buffer zones at abortion clinics in Scotland. Mr Vance had claimed people who live within 'safe access zones' had been sent letters by the Scottish government warning them about praying in their homes. He even said officials had urged people to report those 'guilty of thought crime'. But a Scottish government spokesman responded: 'Private prayer at home is not prohibited within safe access zones and no letter has ever suggested it was.' Mrs Badenoch said that Britain's abortion laws were 'good, safe and legal' – and warned against importing US-style divisions over the issue. But she said she opposed the imposition of protest-free buffer zones around clinics. And she warned that free speech was threatened in some parts of British life by courts and other authorities 'expanding the law way beyond the original intention'. She told LBC Radio: 'On balance, we are in a good place in our country. We should not talk the UK down. We do have freedom of expression, but it is at risk in some places if we're not paying attention.' Mrs Badenoch added: 'I think that my party, the Conservative Party, cares very much more about it than Labour does. And we need to make sure we hold their feet to the fire to guarantee those rights that we've always had in the United Kingdom.' Meanwhile, Dr Tossici-Bolt has welcomed Washington's rare intervention, saying: 'I am grateful to the US State Department for taking note of my case. Great Britain is supposed to be a free country, yet I've been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation.' The retired clinical scientist added: 'It is tragic to see that the increase of censorship in this country has made the US feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties.' The 64-year-old said she was 'deeply saddened' that the UK is seen 'as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech'. But last night, pro-choice campaigners hit back accusing the US of 'political posturing' and defending 'harassment'. Abortion Rights chairman Kerry Abel said: 'We reject the false narrative that harassment equals free speech. 'No woman should be forced to run a gauntlet of moral judgment or veiled intimidation just to access healthcare. The US can keep its trade threats – our rights are not for sale.' Meanwhile, Louise McCudden, UK head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, said: 'It may come as a surprise to politicians in the US, but here in the UK, 'freedom' includes the freedom to access medical care safely without intimidation or coercion.' And Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, added: 'Women's ability to access legal healthcare services should not be used as a political football.