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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
John Harris

They call it ‘national conservatism’ but it’s a divisive, far-right movement. Why are Tories embracing it?

Suella Braverman at the Public Safety Foundation thinktank, London, 26 April 2023.
‘The intersection between national conservatism and the Tory mainstream is actually well advanced. For proof, consider the language it is using around immigration.’ Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

In a fortnight’s time, a remarkable two-day political conference is going to be happening in central London. The people speaking in its debates and discussions come almost entirely from the political right: they will include the home secretary, Suella Braverman, her cabinet colleague Michael Gove, and a host of voices from media outlets such as the Daily Telegraph and GB News.

What will sit at the heart of proceedings, says the event’s official blurb, are “the idea of the nation” and “the revival of the unique national traditions that alone have the power to bind a people together and bring about their flourishing”. The foes and bugbears that will be decried include “political theories grounded in race”, and “a powerful new Marxism”.

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