The Annual New Culture Forum Conference 2023
The Annual New Culture Forum Conference 2023
A ‘new vision for Britain’ was the theme of the second annual New Culture Forum (NCF) Conference held in Birmingham on the 22nd of April 2023. NCF founder Peter Whittle started the think tank in 2006. The influence of the group has grown over the last couple of years. Their You Tube channel has 172,000 subscribers and offers a regular schedule of programmes featuring well-known political and cultural figures. NCF aims to challenge ‘the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, education, and wider British culture’ and says they ‘have forged important relationships within the national political, media and cultural spheres and now enjoy a high profile’. The most prominent NCF figures are Whittle, historian and royal commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, commentator Emma Webb, and Lecturer in Performance and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds Philip Kiszely. Around 250 people were in attendance at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre to meet like-minded people and hear speeches.
Heydel-Mankoo declared mass immigration “the greatest instance of national harm” in British history. Immigration into Britain has accelerated in recent decades despite most of the public voting for the opposite. After recounting Andrew Neather’s revelation that the Labour government in office between 1997-2010 deliberately set out to destroy Britain as a homogenous country, Heydel-Mankoo underlined the importance of gross migration statistics over those on net migration. The year ending June 2022 saw a staggering 1.1 million people migrate to the UK and 560,000 people emigrate from it.
The government see net migration as inclusive of a swap of like-for-like people. Heydel-Mankoo averred that it matters who comes and goes. This view is anathema to the current regime. They perceive citizens as little more than rootless economic units and countries as mere administrative regions. He said the demographic transformation of this country has absolutely ‘‘no consent”.Current UK migration policy is indicative of an unwillingness to uphold a principle of self-determination by the UN Charter.
This assertion is evident in the refusal of the political class to adhere to the views of the British public on mass immigration; and their failure to seek any consent for the demographic upending of the country. An ethnic or national group cannot be said to possess self-determination if a state reconstitutes the territory the group occupies through unsolicited mass immigration. Colossal demographic change undermines the ability of the people on the receiving end of this policy to retain cultural freedom, territorial integrity, and political independence.
Noting the phenomenon of white flight, where white populations leave their homes as an area becomes less and less familiar and ceases to reflect their cultures, the historian asked, ‘‘At what point does Britain stop being Britain?” Heydel-Mankoo pointed to the recent Hindu-Muslim disturbances in Leicester as an example of the problems Britain has imported from overseas.3 The tumult in the midlands involved days of violent sectarian battles. “Homophobia and misogyny are on the rise, but the media, do not tell us why”.
The subject of Heydel-Mankoo’s speech was ‘Managing Multi-Racial Britain’, and he proposes a halt to all further immigration into Britain for at least ten years, perhaps a generation. The United States sought to preserve ‘‘an ideal of homogeneity” through their approach to immigration between the 1920s and 1960s. A similar policy, he reasons, would aid assimilation and integration today. Assimilation is now impossible in Britain on account of the level of mass immigration that has occurred. Integration seems unlikely due to the diminishing presence of the host culture; this makes it unclear what other cultures should integrate into. Nevertheless, such an approach would enable the country to ‘‘take stock,’’ and aid social stability.
The royal commentator said children must learn the “truth of the universality of slavery” and “the role of Africans in the slave trade”. This suggestion and his advocacy for abolishing the current teacher training colleges were the most welcome features of Heydel-Mankoo’s talk.
Emma Webb spoke on ‘Free Speech, Free Thought’. She talked about the ongoing assault on Western literature. The works of many writers, including Ian Fleming (1908-1964) and Roald Dahl (1916-1990) are the subject of censorship today. In February, Penguin backed down after the backlash following their decision to bowdlerise Dahl’s books. New editions, absent of passages relating to weight, mental health, gender, and race, will be printed but so will The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, without woke expurgation. Initially, the publisher sought to do away with the original versions. After this announcement, sales of Dahl’s books soared; this attests to the view that hard leftists are a minority. Webb reasons the best way to respond to the attack on literature is to buy the original copies of books that publishers intend to alter and keep older books lest posterity is without them.
Webb cited a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP). The study shows that vigilance is required in the war against freedom of expression and intellectual enquiry: ‘In total, 82 individuals and services responded to the survey, with 26% revealing they had “occasionally” been asked to censor material. CILIP noted the data raised “serious concerns”. “If nearly a third of respondents have been asked to censor materials—even if only occasionally—we need to understand more about the basis on which these requests are being made and how equipped librarians feel to respond.”' The survey revealed, ‘More than 80% of librarians are concerned about the increased incidence of challenges to intellectual freedom, such as requests to remove titles that address specific identities.’
The theme of Dr Philip Kiszerly’s speech was ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’. The talk was the most high-energy speech of the conference. Kiszerly engaged the audience with some incisive observations and expressive delivery. Post Black Lives Matter (BLM), activists have changed tactics. We now see a central performative element that is ‘‘willfully destructive and nihilistic”. Kizerly calls this "narcissistic protest performativity" (NPP). It entails privilege masquerading as victimhood. Indeed, Just Stop Oil attracts wealthy students with trust funds, and their antics are self-aggrandising. The media have reported on the privileged background of Edred Whittingham after he disrupted the snooker World Championship in April. He solicits money from the general public to support his activism.
When discussing radical trans activists, Kiszerly pointed to a predatory anti-female drive shown by trans-athletes desperate to compete against biological women in sports. Unfortunately, the depravity of these “anti-female terrorists” does not stop there. Highlighting the dangers such self-described activists pose to society, Kiszerly noted the case of Dr Jacob Breslow. Until October 2022, he was a trustee of the trans-advocacy charity Mermaids before resigning from the organisation after his links to paedophile advocacy were uncovered.
In the United States, Jeffrey Marsh urges teens experiencing gender issues to bypass their parents and seek out trans promoters. In March 2023, Shumirun Nessa, a Muslim Tiktok comedian, demanded that Marsh desist from advising children to do this. Marsh supporters responded by issuing the comedian death threats. Regrettably, Marsh is not a minor figure but someone with over 680,000 subscribers on Tiktok.
In addition to aggressive intolerance and death threats, this constituency pushes boundaries with displays of staggering degeneracy. In September 2022, someone from the group Pissed Off Trannies stood outside the headquarters of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and poured urine over their body before leaving sixty urine-filled bottles in front of the building. This act came in response to guidance issued by the EHRC in April stating that service providers wishing to limit services to one sex can do so "provided the reasons are justified and proportionate".
One justified and proportionate reason may be the prevention of women being assaulted and raped by biological males. Alas, some see such a safeguard as "bigotry". Kiszerly distinguished between the trans-activists he discussed in his talk and others who identify as trans.Just as the audience began to wonder if Kizerly had forgotten that the theme of his speech was ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ the lecturer pointed to some positive developments at universities. In academia, there are still saner professionals who reject the worrying excesses of today. The fact that Kiszerly is still in an academic post attests to this. He believes there are signs that the environment is changing, but universities will have to suffer financially before something telling occurs.
In the middle of the conference, an open discussion between Whittle, Ben Habib Advisor to the Reform Party, and William Clouston Leader of the Social Democrats (SDP) took place. This added variety to the event format and represents a dynamic other conference hosts may want to mirror. The conversation focussed on the next general election and the prospects of smaller parties.
Tom and Hayley Bowen spoke about their King Alfred school in Dudley, England’s first Classical Christian School. The school gives children a classical education based on Christian values and the cultural heritage of Western Civilisation. The couple is establishing a network called Classical British Education that aspires to help others set up schools across Britain. Rivals to state schools are in great need if children are to escape the indoctrination that passes for education nowadays.
Stephen Balogh of NCF Locals promoted similar social parallelism. Balogh spoke about community building and growing NCF groups across the country. These groups allow people to form healthy relationships with like-minded people. A stable and cohesive community facilitating social, commercial, and political exchange is fundamental to ensuring effective collective action and the defence and advocacy of shared interest.
Other speakers at the event included the academic Mathew Goodwin, Amy Gallagher, Dr Alka Sehgul Cuthbert, and NCF host Harrison Pitt. Pitt gave a very engaging talk entailing comparisons between cries of “popery” in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and cries of “racist” today. He thinks a heavy Tory defeat at the next general election will facilitate a much-needed realignment of the British political landscape. The crowd were in agreement.
Throughout the day, people from all parts of the country and some from abroad had time to socialise in a positive setting. Some free drink was on hand; this was a pleasant surprise.
Some might say that the NCF are too soft on certain points, but the group do understand the major issues. Their cool, measured, and contemplative approach lends well to garnering support among decent people; this is not something to scoff at. The group deserve praise for emerging as a respectable opposition to the political class.
Migration statistics - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk), 24/11/22, accessed: 1/5/23
United Nations Charter (full text) | United Nations, 1945, accessed: 1/5/23
Sian Bayley, The Bookseller - Features - Serious concerns as almost a third of librarians asked to censor material, 22/9/22 accessed: 1/5/23
Martin Robinson, David Pilditch, and Ben Edley, Just Stop Oil zealot who disrupted snooker is from middle-class family who grew up in £600,000 semi | Daily Mail Online, 18/4/23, accessed: 1/5/23
Mermaids trustee quits over paedophile-group links - BBC News. 4/10/22, accessed 7/5/23
Julie Bindel, Jeffrey Marsh is wrong: Trans rights, parent concerns both matter | Gender Equity | Al Jazeera, 18/3/23. accessed 7/5/23
Natasha Anderson, Trans activists leave more than 60 bottles of urine outside Equality and Human Rights Commission | Daily Mail Online, 7/9/22, accessed 7/5/23