Yorkshire tea

Why everyone’s talking about...

Ah, lovely. Nothing nicer than a good brew to bring folk together and help solve our ills. You haven’t been reading the news, then…

No. What happened?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire) posted a snap of himself online making a cup of Yorkshire Tea.

The despicable scumbag!

Well, social media trolls thought so, with some Lefties calling for a boycott of the brand as it had become horribly tainted by association with Tory ‘hatred, intolerance and bigotry’. After being boiled in a kettle of abuse, Yorkshire Tea responded with quintessential North of England decency, saying it was shocked to be ‘dragged into a political mudfight’ but it was ‘lovely to see others speak up for us in a civil way’.

Surely the most angry Twitter spat involving tea ever…

You’d have thought so. But no. In 2018, a patriotic Brexiteer lost his rag after learning that the Harrogate-produced blend didn’t actually come from leaves grown in the vast tea plantations of Scarborough, but in Africa and India (including the state of Karnataka where, incidentally, Sunak’s billionaire father-in-law was born).

Tea bags are surely a proud British invention? Nope. They were invented in America, but by accident. Importer Thomas Sullivan shipped his product in silk pouches as packaging. But some customers thought they had to dunk them in hot water and the practice caught on. Now you can get teabags in all shapes and sizes, including fish-shaped ones to make your mug look like an aquarium.

At least last week’s spat wasn’t a major national controversy, like whether to put the milk in the cup first or not. The answer to which is…?

Still disputed. But it started as a class thing. Poor quality porcelain cups cracked when hot tea was poured in them, so putting milk in first suggested you couldn’t afford good stuff. One more fun historical fact: tea was once so expensive that sheep dung was added in an attempt to fleece customers.

Surely this was the first time that Yorkshire Tea and politics collided, though?

No. Jeremy Corbyn once said that if he became PM, he’d invite Donald Trump to No10 to discuss climate change over a cuppa. Not that Trump would ever wish to meet a man he once described as a ‘negative force’.

Do say:

Didn’t I spot the Bard of the Dales, Alan Bennett, with a pot of his usual in Betty’s tea shop in Ilkley?

Don’t say:

Yorkshire Tea? I thought that was t’letter t’locals use for t’definite article.

STEVE BENNETT