Lee Anderson MP criticised for signing letter which uses controversial term

The letter to Boris Johnson was signed by the newly-formed ‘Common Sense Group’ which is comprised of 59 Conservative MPs, including Ashfield MP Lee Anderson.

The group claims to represent ‘the silent majority’ who are ‘tired of being patronised’ by ‘elitist bourgeois liberals’ on issues such as immigration.

Criticism has been leveled at those respsonsible for the letter due to the use of the term ‘cultural Marxism’ which was historically used by the Nazis, and has more recently been co-opted by far-right activists including terrorist, Anders Brevik.

In response to the letter, the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against anti-Semitism, headed by Conservative MP Andrew Percy and his Labour colleague Catherine McKinnell, has issued a clarification on the phrase.

Mr Percy told the Jewish Chronicle: "Several colleagues, seeking to make valid and reasonable points about the limits of freedom of expression, have used the saying and their words might have inadvertently acted as a dog-whistle for the far-right.

“My colleagues may not have previously been aware what cultural Marxism was, but now they are.

"I wrote to all Conservative MPs some time ago with a briefing note produced by our secretariat, the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust, having previously already spoken to a number of them about use of the phrase.

“Most expressed surprise at its alternative meaning, and several undertook not to use it again.”

This is not the first time Lee Anderson has courted anti-Semitic controversy – it was revealed in 2019 that he was under investigation for being part of a Facebook group which openly discussed George Soros conspiracy theories – the results of which have yet to be published.

A briefing paper prepared by the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust was sent to all Conservative MPs and peers on November 11, warning that their words could ‘inadvertently’ act as a ‘dog-whistle for the far-right’.

It said: “Whatever the intention of those using the phrase, it will be received as a code by far-right anti-Semites.

“To that end anyone using those words has a duty to explain why they do so, and to educate about the associated dangers.

“Public figures must consider this dog-whistle, even if not blowing it.”

Lee Anderson MP has been approached for comment.

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