Discrimination claim after Tesco cafe talk on religion is shelved

Dundee minister hits out after meeting’s venue is switched

A Dundee minister has accused supermarket giant Tesco of discrimination after it cancelled a talk on Christianity he was to give in one of its cafes.

Reverend David Robertson of the Free Church of Scotland said he was only given half an hour’s notice that last week’s meeting, organised by the Solas Centre for Public Christianity two months earlier, had been cancelled.

The meeting – to discuss whether religion causes strife in society – was moved to the Hope Church in Coatbridge.

Tesco said it decided to cancel the meeting after learning it would be a larger gathering than had originally been expected and was open to the public.

However, Mr Robertson described the incident as a “clear case of discrimination”.

He said: “The manager of the cafe had no problem. I think what happened was somebody obviously phoned in to complain, pressure was put on.

“I think Tesco basically is part of this corporate nightmare that’s taking over Britain where they’ll claim that it’s not anti-Christian discrimination, but I think it basically is.

“Somebody higher up the corporate management structure instructed their local people, cut this out, stop it. It’s just a clear case of discrimination.”

Writing on his blog, Mr Robertson added: “Why did Tesco pull the plug at the last minute? It was not local – the local cafe manager was superb.

“The first phone call said it was something to do with ‘equality’. The next one from some higher up manager, who refused to give anything other than his first name, gave a variety of excuses.”

Mr Robertson said Tesco told him the event was cancelled because it was a rally rather than a meeting and it did not know the number of people expected to attend or the content of the speech.

Finally, he claims the company said the meeting did not fit “Tesco’s values”.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “Prior to the gathering taking place, we had agreed a small number of members from the group could meet in our Coatbridge store.

“When we discovered the group was encouraging a larger, open meeting, we suggested they find a bigger venue to accommodate them.”

I think what happened was somebody obviously phoned in to complain, pressure was put on. REV DAVID ROBERTSON