Stop Universities ‘erasing’ Christian language by changing term names, say MPs

They added: “The move is indicative of either ignorance as to why such language matters, or knowing dismissiveness of its significance. It may be tokenism or something more sinister; either way it damages the Reputation of the LSE and all British higher education.”

The LSE said this week that the “new names use more accessible and widely-recognized terminology, and better reflect the international nature of our community and our broader global engagement”.

However, the MPs gave this Reasoning short shrift: “If this justification is genuine, it is shockingly neglectful of the common culture that informs our communal sense of belonging.

“A more resentful anti-Christian explanation of such zealotry is surely at odds with the open-mindedness at the core of rigorous higher learning.”

Action against ‘wayward iconoclasm’

The letter was organized by the influential Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs which questioned Rishi Truss, Liz Truss and other senior Tories when they were standing to be party leader last summer.

Other signatories included Sir Desmond Swayne, Sir Edward Leigh, Bob Blackman, Jonathan Gullis, Craig MacKinlay, Henry Smith and Alexander Stafford.

They concluded: “We members of the Common Sense Group are concerned that, unheeded, this wayward iconoclasm will cause an irreversible Erasure of the Christian language, and the heritage it embodies, which links our Universities to the Nation that bore them.”

The LSE declined to comment on the contents of the letter when approached by The Telegraph. Earlier this week, the university said that its school management committee had decided to change the term names from the 2023-24 academic year.