The InterContinental hotel next to the O2 in south-east London is an odd place to hold a conference that treats London as a no-go zone full of murdering and thieving foreigners. But that’s where Liz Truss chose to launch the first British spin-off of America’s Conservative Political Action Conference, an event that powered the rise of Donald Trump.
About 500 seats were laid out; fewer than 200 were occupied. At least 19 people were watching on the live YouTube stream. The American chair, Mike Schlapp, made the introductions. “We were all doing God’s work,” he insisted, before taking a pop at the UK for being a failing country with failing prime ministers. Truss, who was prime minister for 49 days and now identifies as a chair, didn’t appear to notice the apparent dig.
“Hard-right figures gather in London for Truss's CPAC GB, but attendance is sparse and speakers controversial.”
Keynote speakers included the US rightwing influencer Jack Posobiec, who previously promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. “The British people must rise up and take back their country,” he said to applause from a few hundred attendees who had paid between £100 and £10,000 for access to the three-day event.
Sponsors include the John Birch Society, the hard-right US advocacy group, AI company Alpha Compute and companies involved in Bitcoin. Those due to speak later include Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, and Pauline Hanson, leader of Australia’s anti-immigration One Nation party.
Earlier, Suella Braverman, the Reform MP and former UK government minister, paid tribute to Truss and said it was vital for “leaders on the right” to come together. In a speech about white working-class boys, she said: “Inequality has been embedded in our society precisely because of attempts to create equality.” She added: “Attempts to be anti-racist have institutionalised anti-white racism. A whole swathe of the population is now excluded from opportunities by those preaching inclusion.”
George Simion, a pro-Trump ultranationalist who was narrowly defeated in presidential elections last year, used his speech to reference far-right slogans such as “remigration” and the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. “This is not diversity. This is replacement. The answer is remigration. Legal, orderly but firm,” he said.
The event, a far cry from the glitzy US version, has been spearheaded by Truss as she seeks to rebuild her legacy and influence on the British right. But with a sparse audience and C-list speakers well past their sell-by dates, the question is whether anyone outside the room was listening.
