Rishi Sunak backs Suella Braverman attending far-right conference with anti-LGBTQ+ politicians
Rishi Sunak has defended Suella Braverman’s upcoming appearance at the National Conservatism conference. (Getty)
Rishi Sunak has defended Suella Braverman’s upcoming appearance at a conference alongside some of Europe’s most notorious far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ politicians.
Home secretary Braverman is due to speak at the three-day National Conservatism event in London, also known as NatCon, running from 15-17 May.
The controversial event, which is in its eighth year, is based on evangelical Christian beliefs, with the group’s website stating principles of “a moratorium on immigration” and “the traditional family, built around a lifelong bond between a man and a woman”.
Braverman, who called on the prime minister to tackle “trans ideology”, will be joined by Tory MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg, Miriam Cates and member of the House of Lords, Sir David Frost.
In defence of the politicians’ appearance at the far-right event, Rishi Sunak’s press secretary told Byline Times that “ministers and members of the party are free to speak at events where they see fit”.
The conference’s line-up has previously included Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán, Italy’s populist leader Matteo Salvini, Polish Law and Justice MEP Ryszard Legutko – who has described homophobia as a “totally fictitious problem” – and from the US, Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis who signed the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ Don’t Say Gay bill into law.
This year’s event will see further anti-LGBTQ+ figures attend, including Tory journalist Douglas Murray, who has previously claimed there’s “no such thing” as being non-binary and branded the UK capital a “foreign country” due to its diversity.
Disgraced historian David Starkey, who in 2020 said slavery was not a genocide because “so many damn Blacks” survived, will also attend.
Following condemnation over his comments, Starkey issued an apology, blaming his “indefensible” race rant on “awful clumsiness”.
At the start of May, Starkey was forced to apologise once again after he claimed Rishi Sunak hadn’t engaged in the King’s coronation because he is “not fully grounded in our culture”, the Guardian reported.
According to Byline Supplement, Trump-supporting US senator JD Vance, who wants a nation-wide ban on abortion in the US, will also attend, alongside enthusiastic conservative supporter Toby Young.
Following Young’s appointment to the Office for Students – a body intended to ensure institutions in higher education are accountable – by Theresa May, Labour called for the government to fire him over “misogyny and homophobia”.
In 2021, press regulator Ipso ruled that the Daily Telegraph had to publish a correction over a “significantly misleading” column written by Young which claimed a common cold could provide “natural immunity” to Covid-19. The article added that London was “probably approaching herd immunity”.
In 2020, bisexual Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski came under fire for speaking at the NatCon.
The three-day National Conservatism event will run from 15-17 May.
PinkNews has contacted Suella Braverman for comment.
