National Conservative Conference

May 19, 2023 by Jill

Summing-up of daily events from Religion Media Centre:

Christians behind National Conservative Conference in London

The National Conservative Conference, held this week at Emmanuel Christian Centre in London, is organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation, whose chair is Dr James Orr, associate professor of philosophy of religion at the faculty of divinity, University of Cambridge. He told Premier Christian Radio that the conference aims to address a crisis within political conservatism in the West, saying freedom to live according to religious belief and other rights are not being defended. The Times reports that the conference was born out of the Christian Conservative movement in the US and held its first UK event in 2019. It quotes one Tory MP saying it is about transporting extreme right-wing culture wars and American division and rhetoric into the UK. One of the speakers was the Conservative MP for Devizes and evangelical Christian, Danny Kruger, who told the Conference that the traditional nuclear family is the basis for society. He said: “The normative family, the mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children, is the only basis for a safe and successful society.. Families need to be back at the heart of our fiscal system”.

National Conservatism Conference hears that Christianity is in a state of accelerated collapse, Day 2, RNS

Day two of the National Conservatism Conference in London, born out of the Christian conservative movement in the US, started with the organiser saying Christianity was in a state of “accelerated collapse”, Dr James Orr, associate professor of philosophy of religion at the faculty of divinity, University of Cambridge, said there was a new public faith emerging, with a new priesthood policing the dogma. He appealed for an emphasis on “faith, family and flag” and called for a conservatism based on freedom, constrained by commitment to religion, family and the nation. No government, no society can afford to be indifferent to the moral fabric of the nation, he said. Praising the ”intact family” he said sex education had been outsourced to “rainbow activists” and criticised transgenderism for inflicting irreversible physical harm on the young and vulnerable. At a gala dinner the evening before, author Douglas Murray said it was recognised there was a problem with nationalism in a German context, but there was no reason why every other country in the world should be prevented from feeling pride in itself “because the Germans mucked up twice in a century.” The remark was applauded by the audience in the room but slammed as outrageous on social media.

National Conservatism: “Britain is a Christian nation–or it is nothing at all” Final day, RNS

A debate on God and Country kicked off the final day of the National Conservatism Conference in London. Journalist Sebastian Milbank said the Christian nature and origins of the British people are inescapable: “Britain is a Christian nation–or it is nothing at all”. Father Benedict Kiely, a Catholic priest attached to Walsingham, said that without God, a house is built on sand: “If we don’t “do” God then we won’t “do” country and we won’t “do”. The conference was organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation, whose chair is Dr James Orr, associate professor of philosophy of religion at the faculty of divinity, University of Cambridge. It was born out of the Christian Conservative movement in the US and has held events for the past four years in Britain, but this conference achieved notoriety because of the number of government ministers and MPs who spoke raising issues of morality, immigration, national identity and heritage. Evangelical Christian MP Daniel Kruger’s comment that marriages between men and women were “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society” was held at arms length by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. His spokesman said although some ministers had chosen to speak at the event, that did not mean the government endorsed its agenda. In closing remarks, Dr Orr said the impact of the conference had gone well beyond their expectations: “We’ve got truth on our side. We’ve got youth on our side. We can do this again. We must do this again”.

Read also contributions from some of the speakers : (newer items at the top)

A Dispatch from the Woke Wars – Toby Young

What is British Conservatism Anyway? by Tim Stanley

Restoring our common life by Henry George

The matter of Britain by Sebastian Millbank

Love, Gratitude, and Aspiration by Douglas Murray

Focus on the body by Ben Sixsmith, The Critic

What’s the point of National Conservatism? CapX Podcast

Can the NatCon revolution escape the past? by Kathleen Stock, UnHerd

Reflections on the revolution in the west, Melanie Phillips

David Starkey Tells National Conservatism Conference ‘White Culture’ Is Under Threat, Huffington Post

“The tension within each of us is between the desire to belong and the desire to be free.” Kruger’s speech to the National Conservative Conference. Full text. from Conservative Home