Cold war! Tories rage at Ben and Jerry’s in migrant storm
‘Inaccurate virtue signalling’
ICE cream giant Ben & Jerry’s was accused of ‘hypocrisy’ last night after criticising Priti Patel’s handling of the migrant crisis in the Channel.
The American company’s British branch slammed the Home Secretary’s call for the Navy to stop migrants crossing from France.
A Home Office source immediately hit back, saying Miss Patel’s department did not care about angering a ‘brand of overpriced junk food’.
The row intensified last night as critics pointed out that Ben & Jerry’s had used suppliers that treated migrant workers ‘appallingly’.
In 2017, the firm came under pressure to ensure dairy farms supplying it with milk in Vermont provided humane conditions for their migrant workers.
A survey by Migrant Justice, a farmworkers’ advocacy group, found that workers in Vermont’s dairy industry had had few days off, did not sleep properly and had substandard housing, the New York Times reported.
Vermont farmworker and activist Enrique Balcazar told The Guardian: ‘Ben & Jerry’s has stood up for cows, for chickens and for international farmers.
‘They’ve pledged support for climate justice, for Occupy Wall Street … so, after four years of us educating them about farmworker human rights abuses in its supply chain, it’s time Ben & Jerry’s stands up for the rights of the same farmworkers who put the cream in ice cream.’
Ben & Jerry’s signed an agreement with the group in October 2017 to give dairy workers in their supply chain a full day off each week, minimum wage and better working conditions.
Ben & Jerry’s is owned by Unilever, which in 2016 was forced to settle with almost 600 workers in India after they were allegedly exposed to mercury in one of the company’s thermometer plants. A Dutch research centre also alleged that in 2014 the firm’s Kenyan workers were poorly housed with many experiencing sexual harassment. Unilever denies the allegations.
Ministers and Tory MPs accused the ice cream giant of ‘virtue signalling’.
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly tweeted: ‘Can I have a large scoop of statistically inaccurate virtue signalling with my grossly overpriced ice cream please.’ Tory MP Alan Mak added: ‘The Government is working around the clock to tackle illegal immigration, including via the Channel.
‘Ben and Jerry’s should stop virtue signalling and stick to making ice cream. Their support of illegal channel crossings only encourages more people traffickers.’
He added: ‘Ben and Jerry’s are also guilty of hypocrisy given they’ve previously been called out for using dairy suppliers that treat migrant workers appallingly.’ Immigration minister Chris Philp told the company to ‘stick to ice cream’, adding: ‘Last year the UK made 20,000 asylum grants. We are the only G7 country to meet the 0.7 per cent aid target and have run the largest refugee resettlement scheme in Europe over the last five years.’
The spat began when the company’s social media team published a thread directed at Miss Patel. It started with ‘the real crisis is our lack of humanity for people fleeing war, climate change and torture’, and pulled together a series of facts about asylum seekers.
A Home Office source replied: ‘Priti is working day and night to bring an end to these small boat crossings, which are facilitated by international criminal gangs and are rightly of serious concern to the British people. If that means upsetting the social media team for a brand of overpriced junk food, then so be it.’
Ben and Jerry’s declined to comment.