The Beano, based in Dundee, Scotland, accused Rees-Mogg of "masquerading" as Walter Brown, better known as Walter the Softy, the next-door neighbor of the comic's most famous character, Dennis the Menace.

It says this is "a clear breach of our copyright" and lists attributes that Rees-Mogg shares with Brown, including his hairstyle, glasses, "bullish behaviour" and "snootiness."

The letter says: "It has been brought to our attention that you have been infringing the intellectual property rights of one of our cartoon characters and masquerading as Walter Brown.