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James O'Brien hears from LBC's Joseph Draper live from the right-wing event CPAC GB. The three-day event hosted talks from ex-PM Liz Truss as well as self-acclaimed 'political prisoner' Lucy Connolly. In an LBC exclusive, Joseph Draper asks Connolly whether she feels she 'incited violence' with her race hate tweet that sent her to prison for 10 months. She insists it was a 'flippant comment' and had no influence over the riots that broke out in the wake of the Southport murders. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #lucyconnolly #farage #reform #cpac #southport #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
Joseph Draper, LBC's reporter, is at CPAC, which is that sort of strange American organisation
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where very, very right-wing people gather in largely empty rooms in this country
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to warn that the West is under threat or that everybody is in danger of suddenly disappearing
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And guess who's there? Liz Truss and, indeed, Lucy Connolly. And almost certainly, or Joseph will correct me if I'm wrong, Nigel Farage at some point as well
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And, as you've probably gathered, Joseph Draper too. Joseph, what's going on
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Well, I would not blame any of my listeners for not having a clue what CPAC is, James
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but it's the Conservative Political Action Conference. As you say, if you were a Republican in America, this would be a big part of your schedule
0:45
It'd be a huge event. It's a kind of Trump fest, hugely instrumental part of Donald Trump's fan base, really
0:55
It's kind of a comic-con for right-wing figures in America. Liz Truss over the last few years has been a frequent appearance there
1:03
I think last year she said she wanted a Trump-style revolution in the UK
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Well, I think this is her attempt to do that, bringing CPAC here to the UK for the first time
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trying to transplant Trumpism, I suppose, to British politics. And she took to the stage yesterday at this hotel where I am now, next to the O2
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I will say, James, the crowd here yesterday on the opening day, I think, can fairly be described as threadbare
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She took to the stage, in her words, saying that we needed to save Western civilisation from destruction by the progressive left
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I mean, that's what she said. Got some applause, but as I say, there were quite a few empty seats
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those people who were here, James, spending between £500 and £10,000 for a ticket
2:00
It's not a cheap event, this. £10,000? £10,000. What do you get for £10,000
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An absolute stone-cold guarantee that Liz Truss won't talk to you. Well, I can tell you what you don't get
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You don't get free coffee. Good grief. £10,000? £3 for a coffee here, James
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Nice work if you can get it. Sorry I interrupted you in a state of spluttering incredulity Carry on Joe Yeah well presumably those tickets don get you free coffee The coffee here three pound for a cup and it tastes suspiciously granulated
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to me. But we've had speakers, James, from right across Europe and the world, right wing, pretty
2:38
fringe figures, I must say, Romanian pro-Trump ultra-nationalists, George Simeon being one of
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who spoke about the great replacement theory and the need to re-emigrate immigrants in the West
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Matt Goodwin of Reform UK, he was the candidate, you'll remember James and the Gorton and Denton by-election
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claiming on stage yesterday, this is one of the most extreme claims I've heard today or this week
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claiming that election was rigged by the so-called Islamo-Green Party. Islamo-Green Party
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The Islamo-Green Party. Is that a thing, or has he just invented that? Well, there's no evidence to suggest..
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No, but I mean the name, I've not heard of this. Is it a new splinter group? Because, I mean, you've got Reform, Restore, Reclaim, Reverberate, Reflux, Regurgitate
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Is there another one? I mean, is there an Islamo Green Party now out there, Joe
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I think he was just referring to... I think what he meant was the Green Party, which won that election comfortably
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Yes. It must be said that the Green Party won that by-election comfortably
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But from what he said, James, this so-called Islamo Green Party used Muslim clan networks
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But they've looked into this. They've looked into this, Joe. This is what Farage claimed about some family voting or something like that
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It's been investigated. Exactly. I mean, look, there is no evidence of this
4:01
The authorities have looked into that election. There's no evidence it was rigged
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As far as all the evidence says, this was a completely fair election. but clearly he hasn't come to terms with that loss
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He thinks, based on zero evidence that we've seen, that it was rigged by Muslim networks
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So that was one of the most extreme comments I've heard at this conference so far, James
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And surprisingly as well, the Shadow Business Secretary, Andrew Griffiths, also took to the stage alongside many of these figures
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saying people who believe in the UK's net zero targets are no longer welcoming the Conservative Party
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But Kemi Badenoch used to believe in the net zero targets. Well, there was a report, yes, but there was a report that Kemi Badenoch had said no candidates
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now in the next election. Oh I saw that But has she accidentally banned herself from her own party Potentially I mean Well we need to look into this next week We may have to but I mean clearly
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that wasn't confirmed by the Conservative Party before now. That was reporting on this alleged kind of ban
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but as we had a Shadow Business Secretary on stage yesterday appearing to confirm that new policy, James
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of candidates at the next election. So that was an interesting moment as well
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Now, as I said, all this being spearheaded by Liz Truss, former Conservative Prime Minister, albeit very briefly
5:21
Six weeks. Six weeks. There we are. Well, I did manage to speak to her yesterday, very briefly, James
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And I put some of the language that we've heard today and yesterday to her
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Many people would say that some of the language used today is quite extreme and contributes to that language and that culture of hostility in politics
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You know, we've heard about the enemy from within. you described how Western civilisation is under attack
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and needs to be defended. I think that's a pretty... But is this not language that contributes to..
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Saying Western civilisation is under attack and needs to be defended I think is a perfectly reasonable statement about where we are
5:58
Perfectly reasonable statement. Who's it under attack from? I need to be careful on the way home
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The progressive left. For example, who are the... I mean, it's not me, is it
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I asked for specific things. Oh, everyone's having a go at me today. It's outrageous
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You can't even compare someone to... Anyway, so we don't know. She hasn't named it
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Because, I mean... No, no specifics. Look out for them anyway later
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Be careful. Absolutely. Mind how you go. Carry on. But also, we've had lots of references to Islam and Muslims being the enemy within this conference as well
6:29
So lots of extreme language. One person who's due to speak today, James, as you say, is Lucy Connolly
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She's the wife of the former Conservative councillor. She was jailed, you remember, for around 12 months for a tweet during the Southport riots in which she appeared to suggest that people should go out and set fire to the asylum hotels
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Now, I spoke to her yesterday, James. I put that language to her and this is what she said
6:54
I 100% regret what I said. I regretted it at the time. I deleted the tweet on the same day that I wrote it within hours
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I knew that it wasn't the right thing to say. As I said, it's not a representation of who I am and what I really believe
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I was just upset. But equally, I don't think, like I said
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we should be sending people to prison for words Many people will disagree with you and say that we do have freedom of speech in this country but what we don have is a right to incite violence They will look at what you said in
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that tweet and they will say that that very clearly crosses the line. Okay but when I'd say
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to them show me the incitement it was very hyperbole it said for all I care at no point did I say to
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people go out and do this. Equally there is absolutely no evidence to suggest anybody acted
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on that it wasn't up for very long um i don't believe that if i'd have gone to a jury trial
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the threshold would have been met for incitement sorry to press you in this and i'm not going to
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ask you to repeat it but it is very clear set fire to all the effing hotels what is that if
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not an incitement to violence for all i care it's like saying go and i don't care if that happens
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you know like it was it was a flippant comment isn't it a horrible one but it was like there is
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no direct there is no call to direct action the left and then the mainstream media and the media
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channels that are constantly you know hounding nigel farage constantly you know trying to trying
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to dig dirt upon reform and calling them nazis and calling them fascists and racists it's dangerous
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is saying that the far left wants to destroy western civilization contributing to that course
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you've described as bring of you know bringing people together or is that demonizing your
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opponents. But that's what they do in politics, isn't it? They demonise each other. And I think
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again, it's childish. I think... You said CPAC is about getting away from that. Liz Truss stood on
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stage today and said that Western democracy, Western civilisation, sorry, is at risk of being
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destroyed by the left. But that's Liz's opinion. Later today, we are expecting Nigel Farage to come
9:01
here to deliver his speech. Of course you are. Presumably, the crowd will be a lot thicker for
9:07
that's definitely thicker possibly also bigger potentially we'll see joseph draver live from
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cpac because somebody has to um speaking to lucy connolly um who i think it's it's fair to say
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seemed a bit confused but then you know it's it's the people who keep pushing her into positions of
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prominence who are probably to blame for her embarrassment it's not as if she asked for these
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levels of attention but i presume they are rather hard to resist um fascinating to find out which
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It's parts of the mainstream media, it is, that are calling this lot Nazis or fascists
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Again, it's as if they never have any actual examples of the things that they're alleging
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