At the entrance to the hangar-like Olympia conference centre is a huge, framed drawing, showing a design for an imagined triumphal arch. It depicts the intellectual, scientific and cultural contributions to the world made by Western civilisation, from the abolition of slavery to shipbuilding and the caravel.
‘Civilisation’ – and how to defend it – was the primary concern of those attending the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference this week. Over three days, 4,000 attendees pondered the ‘civilisational moment’ at which we stand. Down one fork in the road lies freedom, prosperity and flourishing. Down the other: stagnation, division and managed decline.
Since being set up in 2023 by Baroness Stroud, Jordan Peterson, Sir Paul Marshall and Legatum, ARC has grown into perhaps the highest-profile conservative gathering in the country. The Guardian call it the ‘anti-woke Davos’. And this year both the country’s primary challengers for conservative hearts and minds attended to make their pitch.
We have for too long, Kemi pointed out, taken for granted Britain’s status as a rich country – giving away money we don’t have in international aid and bankrupting ourselves through net zero
