The problem with socialism, the saying goes, is that it takes up too many evenings. Well, the National Conservatism conference, or NatCon, is currently detaining ‘delegates’ for 12 hours at a time, for three days in a row. We’ve had long agonised debates about protectionism vs free trade, communitarianism vs individualism, Ukraine support or Nato scepticism.
When did the right get so sincere? NatCon is an American import, and it feels like it. The programme uses the language of ‘plenaries’ and ‘keynote addresses’. It has that American feel of ‘movement conservatism’ – mixing the over-intellectual with the underwhelming.
The problem for a lot of conservatives today is that they can’t decide if they should be angry or not. Michael Gove said this afternoon that conservatives needed to have ‘the self-confidence that means we do not have to be strident’.
Yet there was Katharine Birbalsingh shouting lines of encouragement from Gladiator: ‘Hold the line! Stay with me! What we do in life echoes for eternity.
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