Prominent public intellectual Douglas Murray is facing criticism over comments he made at the National Conservatism Conference which critics say downplayed the Holocaust and Nazism.
Speaking at the conference Murray said: “There was nothing wrong with nationalism in Britain. It's just that there was something wrong with nationalism in Germany.”
“I don't see why no one should be allowed to love their country because the Germans mucked up twice in a century.”
His comments have stoked controversy surrounding the conference at which prominent Tories including Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Secretary for Levelling Up Michael Gove, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Lee Anderson agreed to speak.
The statement drew attention when it was Tweeted out by the National Conservatism’s official account.
The account later Tweeted a video clip of Murray making the statement during his speech to the conference.
Murray’s statement has drawn condemnation and criticism from a wide range of figures.
Lord Watson, former deputy leader of the Labour Party, retweeted the video commenting: “It's not possible to be more flippant.”
Hope Not Hate, an NGO dedicated to combatting racism, Tweeted: “Douglas Murray’s comment is serious minimisation of the abhorrent, planned nature of the Holocaust. Saying that Germany “mucked up” trivialises and minimises the fact that the Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.”
Speaking to The Independent Tory Peer Lord Eric Pickles, Co-Chair of the United Kingdom’s Holocaust Memorial Foundation and Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues said:
“It is a good thing to be proud of and love your own country. If this blinds you to the merits of the rest of the world it is destructive and leads to bigotry. “
“I regret, as I am sure Mr Murray will on reflection, the description of the Holocaust as a “muck up”, which is inadequate on so many levels.”
When asked about the prominent Conservatives who had attended, or planned to attend the conference, should reconsider their actions he declined to provide further comment.
The Independent attempted to contact Murray about the matter but was not able to reach him for comment.
Other speakers at the conference have also attracted controversy.
Most notably, speaking at the conference Rees-Mogg said: “Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections.”
“We found the people who didn’t have ID were elderly and they by and large voted Conservative, so we made it hard for our own voters and we upset a system that worked perfectly well.”
Rees-Mogg’s comments were termed “deeply troubling” by Labour MP Dawn Butler.
