Does it hold any significance if Lee Anderson, the deputy chair of the Conservative party, expresses his belief that disgruntled asylum seekers should “fuck off back to France” and openly advocates for it? Anderson’s remarks were made to the Daily Express, a newspaper that now thrives on sensationalist content.
One might feel dismayed but not entirely surprised. Anderson portrays himself as a man of the people within his party. He serves the purpose of being the supposed connection between a political organization controlled by the wealthy elites and the ordinary working-class individuals you might find at a local pub.
He has a show on GB News, a platform that exists to challenge the norms of traditional television broadcasting. But even so, we have to question: does Anderson’s statement of “fuck off back to France” truly matter? Is it significant that the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, defended Anderson’s remark as a “salty” expression, and that No 10 supported him?
The answer to that question depends on what we expect from democratic politics in these troubled times of the 21st century. Anderson attempted to explain himself by saying that he only intended to refer to migrants he deemed undeserving. He is entitled to his opinion, as we all are, and he has the freedom of speech.
However, it does reflect something about our current era and his party that the higher-ups would defend him for deliberately escalating the level of verbal toxicity in an already corrupt political landscape. If he were to direct those same words toward an individual on the street within earshot of a diligent police officer, he may very well face arrest.
The issue isn’t whether he can speak this way, but rather why he chooses to do so given his platform and title. If the argument is that he, as a representative of ordinary people, must speak plainly, we can entertain that notion. But does it also assume that ordinary people can only engage with cruelty, rudeness, and indecency? I believe that to be a narrow-minded view as there is a wide diversity of opinions across our vast country. While some may hold strong views on migration, only a minority of deeply unpleasant individuals would want those opinions expressed in such a dehumanizing manner.
Even the Conservative party, in the past, did not seem to advocate for this kind of behavior. It is a sad peculiarity of our time that we would long for the days of Tory civility, when figures like Norman Tebbit played a similar role. One cannot imagine Tebbit, unappealing as he might have been, pursuing his objectives in such an offensive manner. Yet, when considering the indecent policies that successive Tory governments have embraced, it becomes clear that Anderson embodies the laboratory-engineered toxicity of the Sunak era.
Recently, I had the opportunity to see James Graham’s play Dear England, which delves into Gareth Southgate’s tenure as the England manager and his approach to leading young men burdened by societal challenges. Graham’s portrayal of Southgate, played by Joseph Fiennes, showcases the behavior we recognize in a Briton who seeks to assert himself while remaining respectful. It’s reminiscent of figures like John Major who struck a chord with the public.
After watching the play, a stranger sitting next to me asked for my thoughts. I responded by saying, regardless of the football aspect, we had just witnessed the only truly decent national leader our country has seen in over a decade.
And now, we have “fuck off back to France.” It does matter that politics rise above such vulgar language.
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