British political scientist and commentator Matt Goodwin spoke at MCC Feszt 2024 in Esztergom, Hungary earlier this month. He also sat down with Gergely Szilvay of the prominent Hungarian news website Mandiner.hu for an interview. We are bringing you excerpts from that conversation, originally published in Hungarian.
Mr Goodwin was first asked about Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who is a maverick leader within the European Union.
‘The British elite often portrays Hungary as a country in violation of EU laws, regulations and standards. But I think their country is just resisting the pressure to impose a liberal agenda represented by a narrow minority of Western countries.
Hungary is unique in that it is fighting them vigorously on issues such as the war in Ukraine, gender ideology, and critical race theory,
all of which are rooted in left-wing liberalism. Of course, other Central European states do the same. Viktor Orbán is seen by liberals as a problematic, hostile person,’ he opined about the leadership of the Hungarian head of government.
He also pointed out that since Brexit the British general population is paying even less attention to EU affairs. Therefore, the average person on the streets of London would be more likely to regard Hungary as a potential tourist destination than a rogue political actor within the EU.
Mr Goodwin also stated that the speech PM Orbán made at Tusványos Free University this summer would not be made by any leading politician from the Conservative Party in the UK. Advocating for a negotiated peace between Ukraine and Russia, which PM Orbán did in the aforementioned lecture, is not something members of the two major British parties support.
‘Today, there is not really much debate on international issues. And if one violates social liberal orthodoxy, it becomes problematic. If you don't believe in mass immigration, if you don't believe in breaking down borders, if you don't believe in deconstructing biological gender, if you don't favour gender identities, you will find yourself up against it,’ he explained.
He blamed the major defeat the Tories suffered in the recent general election in the UK on their abandoning of the issue their voter base cares about the most, curbing illegal and legal migration.
‘Here are some lessons for conservatives in Hungary. In the UK election, voters punished the Conservatives for breaking their promises, mainly because of mass immigration and the loss of control over the borders. In 2019, they have committed to curbing general migration and taking back control. That was the big promise of Brexit. But remember, British Conservatives are liberal conservatives, unlike Hungarians, who are real conservatives. 130,000 people entered the UK illegally, most of them from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan—Muslim countries. The British conservatives have refused to take the step needed to regain control, to abandon the European Convention on Human Rights, to reform the Human Rights Act and to drastically reduce legal immigration.
The Conservative Party has given a textbook lesson on what not to do as a conservative.
If I were a Hungarian conservative, looking at the UK, I would say: if we liberalise like the British, we will lose,’ Mr Goodwin told Mandiner.
He also shared his belief that ‘an ideological civil war’ is about to play out on the British right, between the old, established Conservative Party representing ‘liberal conservatism;’ while Niger Farage’s Reform UK party represents ‘national conservatism’.
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