UCL opens investigation into report of secret eugenics conference attended by neo-Nazi-linked white supremacists

University College London (UCL) has told Campaign Against Antisemitism that it is investigating after London Student revealed that four secret eugenics conferences attended by neo-Nazis and white supremacists have allegedly been held on campus since 2014.

The London Conference on Intelligence (LCI) has been hosted by Professor John Thompson, a senior honourary professor at the university, and according to London Student it has included talks and contributions from a number of high-profile white supremacists and eugenicists including Richard Lynn, president of the Ulster Institute for Social Research (UISR) who has previously advocated the “phasing out” of the “populations of incompetent cultures”.

UISR is funded by the Pioneer Fund, which has been described as a racist organisation founded by Nazi sympathisers.

Other beneficiaries of the fund included Roger Pearson, founder of Institute for the Study of Man, whose work has included editing magazines dedicated to promoting extremism, including one promising to conduct “a responsible but penetrating inquiry into every aspect of the Jewish Question.”

The conference, with its attendance list of 24 invite-only guests last year included Toby Young, who has now resigned from the board of the new universities regulator, the Office for Students, as well as stepping down from his role within the Fulbright Commission, an organisation which oversees scholarships between US and UK students.

Mr Young published an article in The Spectator on Thursday this week claiming he only attended the conference as a journalist and only “popped in for a few hours on a Saturday and sat at the back.” What is curious about Mr Young’s journalistic attendance is that given the explosive newsworthy nature of the event, he failed to publish an exposé on it.

Mr Young remains head of the government-backed New Schools Network.

UCL has told Campaign Against Antisemitism it had no knowledge of the conference and is “investigating a potential breach of its room bookings process for events after being alerted to conferences on intelligence hosted by an honorary senior lecturer at UCL.” The statement noted: “Our records indicate the university was not informed in advance about the speakers and content of the conference series, as it should have been for the event to be allowed to go ahead. The conferences were booked and paid for as an external event and without our officials being told of the details. They were therefore not approved or endorsed by UCL. We are an institution that is committed to free speech but also to combatting racism and sexism in all forms. We have suspended approval for any further conferences of this nature by the honorary lecturer and speakers pending our investigation into the case. As part of that investigation, we will be speaking to the honorary lecturer and seeking an explanation.”