Railways Ramadan message Magnum recall over fears ‘virtue-signalling claptrap’ ice creams contain metal

DEFENCE EDITOR

RAIL bosses who celebrate Ramadan and not Easter make London a “laughing stock”, Lee Anderson has said.

The former Conservative MP and deputy party chairman made the comments after Network Rail launched an investigation into how controversial Ramadan messages were shown on departure boards at King’s Cross station.

Earlier this month a series of Islamic verses next to train times at the London station were promoted as part of a diversity initiative for the holy festival, the most significant in the Islamic calendar.

The verses included messages about “sinners” which quoted the Prophet Mohammed as opposed to celebratory Ramadan information.

Mr Anderson said Network Rail should be promoting religious messages that celebrate Easter.

He told “If rail bosses have to launch an investigation into how these religious messages ended up on the departure board, then they should not be rail bosses at all.

“The whole of London is turning into the laughing stock of the UK and the government officials who state all religious festivals are celebrated need to realise that normal folk are more interested in their train turning up on time rather than engaging with virtue-signalling claptrap.” Mr Anderson was stripped of the Tory whip after he refused to apologise for comments about Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, who he said was controlled by Islamists.

Among the criticisms of the posts at King’s Cross, Humanists UK said it felt public train stations “should not be urging ‘sinners’ to repent”.

At the time, a spokesman for Network Rail said it celebrated “all the big religious festivals from Christmas to Ramadan at King’s Cross”. When a employee went to the station on Good Friday, there were no Easter messages to be seen on the transport boards.

It comes after Ramadan lights will be on display in the West End over the weekend, marking the second year the Muslim celebration has been marked with illuminations in central London.

The lights, wishing a “Happy Ramadan”, have drawn plaudits but prompted a warning from Conservatives that the council must also support other major faiths during important festivals.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “Following feedback, we will only be showing passenger information messaging on our screens at King’s Cross.

“In the past, we have shown messaging for events such as Easter, Diwali, Passover, Ramadan and many others, but our screens will now be reserved only for passenger information.”

SOME Magnum ice creams have been recalled after metal pieces were found inside products.

Five batches of the Magnum Classic three pack have been recalled after safety checks revealed they may contain small metal fragments “which makes it unsafe to eat”.

Magnum, which is owned by Unilever, has apologised for the inconvenience.

Affected products have a best-before date of November 2025 and one of the following batch numbers: L3324, L3325, L3326, L3327, L3328. Customers can find the number and best-before information on the side of the box, Unilever said.

The Food Safety Agency said customers should not eat the products in question.

The reason for the issue is unknown and the exact amount of affected products is unclear.

A Unilever spokesman said: “The

Five batches of Magnum Classic in three packs have been recalled by Unilever

safety of the people that buy and use our products is our number one priority, so Magnum has taken the voluntary precaution of recalling a limited batch of Magnum Classic Chocolate Ice Cream Sticks 3 x 100ml, as internal quality checks have shown they may contain small pieces of metal. We are asking people to contact our careline team on UK 0800 678 1031/Ireland 1800 444 420.

Unilever announced earlier this month that it is to cut 7,500 jobs globally and would spin off its icecream division into a separate company as part of an overhaul to save more than £600million.

The company makes five of the world’s top-selling 10 ice-cream brands, including Wall’s, Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s and also makes Cornetto, Viennetta and Carte d’Or.

The FTSE 100 consumer goods giant, which makes dozens of household products from Dove soap to Marmite, said it was seeking to become a “simpler, more focused company”.