BREAKING: Outrage as University of Warwick hosts ‘far-right’ “New Order” conference

The University of Warwick has been condemned for hosting a ‘far-right’ conference where speakers are scheduled to discuss subjects including “woke eugenics” and “techno-nationalism”.

The Witan 2024, billed as a conference discussing “Britain’s new order” and “what manner of men will lead it”, is scheduled to take place from 30 August to 1 September in Warwick’s Faculty of Arts Building (FAB).

Named after an “Anglo-Saxon” meeting of “wise men, magnates, and religious leaders”, the event has drawn controversy for its speakers, many of whom have been previously described as ‘far-right’.

Speakers include Carl Benjamin, an online commentator known by the pseudonym “Sargon of Akkad” who has been banned from Patreon for hate speech, and Neema Parvini, a lecturer dismissed from the University of Surrey for far-right activism.

Speakers include Carl Benjamin […] who has been banned from Patreon for hate speech, and Neema Parvini, a lecturer dismissed […] for far-right activism

The event has been further criticised for its association with the publisher Imperium Press, who have faced controversy for publishing books espousing “the Aryan worldview”.

Pictures seen by The Boar show Imperium Press selling books within the FAB, with titles including “Breeding the Human Herd”, “Woke Eugenics”, and “Blood, Soil, Paint”.

The decision for the University of Warwick to host this event has drawn condemnation from University groups, including the Warwick Liberal Democrats.

An Instagram story post by the society read: “We’re horrified that this event has been allowed to happen on our campus.

“Anything related to the views of Carl Benjamin and some of these other speakers should not be allowed in our buildings. The University should condemn this and rethink its approach to hiring out our spaces.”

The apparent decision to place the conference next to an event in the Oculus being held by the British Islamic Medical Association has also been criticised

The apparent decision to place the conference next to an event in the Oculus being held by the British Islamic Medical Association has also been criticised, with Thom Lea, a third-year Philosophy and Literature student, calling it “grossly mismanaged”.

The Witan 2024 website advertises accommodation as being provided for ticketholders of the event. It is not known if the University is providing this.

The University and College Union’s Warwick branch also expressed their concern in a post on Twitter/X, writing: “The Warwick UCU committee finds this deeply troubling, especially in light of the recent race riots from which our community is still healing.”

Videos online appear to show that a previous iteration of The Witan, ‘Witan 2022’, was also held at the University of Warwick, with clips of speeches from the event showing them to have been given in The Slate conference centre, located between the Radcliffe Building and Warwick Business School.

The University was approached for comment.

Speaking to The Boar however, “Scyldings”, a spokesperson for the event, dismissed concerns over billed speakers.

Names of all the speakers were provided, along with their online pseudonyms and websites, and we were passed with flying colours

“Scyldings”, Witan 2024 spokesperson

They said: “Whilst booking through Warwick Conferences, the University asked for us to go through a risk assessment process for controversy, amongst other things.

“Names of all the speakers were provided, along with their online pseudonyms and websites, and we were passed with flying colours.”

They suggested that “we can only assume that any report of controversy is stemming from a small minority of students”, claiming that “the students who have asked our book sellers questions have been polite and inquisitive.”

Carl Benjamin, Neema Parvini (billed under his pseudonym Academic Agent), and Professor Ed Dutton, who are all billed to speak the event, have been previously linked to far-right rhetoric online.

Benjamin, a former UKIP candidate, was investigated by West Midlands Police after tweeting in 2016 that he “wouldn’t even rape” Labour MP Jess Phillips in response to a statement by Phillips that rape threats had “become somewhat par for the course” for her.

He later refused to apologise for his comments, telling a news conference that: “I’m not going to apologise for my crimes against political correctness, I hate political correctness.”

Benjamin has also been linked to far-right activist Tommy Robinson, after launching the Hearts of Oak group alongside Robinson and UKIP members. Upon their launch in 2020, the group said that they were focused on issues including “strong borders, immigration and national identity”, “authorities privileging and protecting Islam alone”, and “freedom of speech”.

In addition to his links to the far-right, now-deleted YouTube videos, uncovered by Buzzfeed News, show Benjamin at an event in New York in 2018, accusing Jewish people of playing “identity politics’, adding: “I’m sorry about the Holocaust but I don’t give a shit. I’m sorry.”

Past actions by Parvini, who was billed to deliver the opening speech of the event, have also been questioned after he was reportedly dismissed from his role at the University of Surrey over racist and far-right views which he espoused on social media under various pseudonyms.

A post shared by Parvini on Telegram under the pseudonym ‘Bertie Bassett’ suggested that black and white people were “different species”,  and that “blacks are closer to homo erectus and lack centuries of self-domestication and admixture with Neanderthals”.

It was also reported that, after his dismissal from Surrey, Parvini spoke at a Traditional Britain Group conference. The group, which was founded in 2001, has been linked by Hope Not Hate to fascist speakers and the European ‘alt-right’ movement.