Latest news with #UK-Italian
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
I am fighting for free speech, claims pro-life activist at heart of transatlantic row
A pro-life activist backed by the White House has said she is fighting for free speech. Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, was convicted on Friday for protesting outside an abortion clinic by holding a sign that read: ' Here to talk if you want to.' The mother of three was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,026 in costs after the 2023 protests in Bournemouth, Dorset. On Saturday, she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'What I'm going to do [now]? There isn't much I can do, isn't it? 'I've been given this conditional discharge, and I will continue my fight for freedom of speech.' The dual UK-Italian citizen stood diagonally opposite a British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic in Bournemouth, approximately 50 metres away, holding a sign on two consecutive days in March 2023. She refused requests to leave the area, claiming that she had not been given an adequate reason to do so, and declined to pay two fixed penalty notices issued by the council. Mrs Tossici-Bolt was convicted at Poole Magistrates Court on Friday of breaching a ban on protests in a protected buffer zone. Giving her verdict, District Judge Orla Austin said that Tossici-Bolt was not 'lawfully exercising' her rights of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Mrs Tossici-Bolt told Today: 'It was purely inviting consensual conversation and I think in the public space, everybody can do that. And this, I don't think is detrimental. I think it is very beneficial for everyone.' She added: 'I was not there to express my views. That's the point. I was there to have a free conversation, consensual conversation, to anyone who wanted to speak to me, and not all the topics I want to speak. I was there to listen.' The prosecution gained global attention this week after the US State Department announced it was 'monitoring' her case, risking a diplomatic row with Britain.
Sky News
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Is the soft power of the royals more important than ever?
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 Prince William is in Estonia to visit British troops but also to show the UK's support for the NATO country which borders Russia. The King's invitation to Donald Trump to come to the UK for a state visit was seen as a key part of British diplomacy to keep the US president on side. And the King and Queen are due to go to Italy soon with a focus on UK-Italian defence co-operation. On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson talks to royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills in Tallinn to discuss whether at this critical time the UK is deploying the soft power of the royals to make a difference.
