The Home Office has attacked ice cream giant Ben and Jerry’s after the company criticised home secretary Priti Patel’s approach to English Channel migrant crossings in a series of tweets.
The UK branch of the ice cream and frozen yoghurt firm suggested Ms Patel and her team show more “humanity”, adding: “People wouldn’t make dangerous journeys if they had any other choice.”
A Home Office official dismissed the concerns from the makers of “overpriced junk food” – and Tory party chairman James Cleverly accused Ben and Jerry’s of “statistically inaccurate virtue signalling” over the issue.
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“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,” said a Home Office source.
“If that means upsetting the social media team for a brand of overpriced junk food, then so be it.”
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1/50 11 August 2020
A woman hydrates in the sun after open water swimming at the West Reservoir Centre in north London
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2/50 10 August 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes part in an archery session as he visits Premier Education Summer Camp at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ in Upminster
Reuters
3/50 9 August 2020
People cycle through Cambridge as the heatwave continues in Britain
EPA
4/50 8 August 2020
Healthcare workers take part in a protest in London over pay conditions in the NHS
Getty
5/50 7 August 2020
Emergency services make their way along the seafront on Bournemouth beach in Dorset on one of the hottest days of the year
PA
6/50 6 August 2020
Alison Murphy poses for a picture by husband Peter as she walks through a field of sunflowers in Altrincham, Cheshire
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7/50 5 August 2020
Pakistan’s Abid Ali being bowled by England’s Jofra Archer during day one of the First Test match at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
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8/50 4 August 2020
The ‘Timbuktu tumblers’ from Kenya perform their balancing act on the Southsea waterfront as Zippos Circus reopens in Portsmouth
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Pelicans interact with a visitor in St James’s Park in London
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Lewis Hamilton drives with a puncture towards the finish line to win the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone
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Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with the trophy and teammates after winning the FA Cup, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
Pool via Reuters
12/50 31 July 2020
People enjoy the sunny weather at a Bournemouth Beach
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13/50 30 July 2020
An artist puts the finishing touches to a wax figure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the entrance line at Madame Tussaud’s in London, as the attraction prepares to reopen to the public following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England
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Getty/ECB
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25/50 18 July 2020
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26/50 17 July 2020
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28/50 15 July 2020
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PA
29/50 14 July 2020
Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
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30/50 13 July 2020
People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
31/50 12 July 2020
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Reuters
32/50 11 July 2020
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Reuters
33/50 10 July 2020
People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
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PA
35/50 8 July 2020
Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
36/50 7 July 2020
A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
37/50 6 July 2020
Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
38/50 5 July 2020
People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
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39/50 4 July 2020
A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
40/50 3 July 2020
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PA
41/50 2 July 2020
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PA
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Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
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(left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill attending the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey in west Belfast
PA
44/50 29 June 2020
Former Team GB Rhythmic Gymnastic dancer Hannah Martin during a training session at Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex
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People visit Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, that recently reopened following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restriction
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A protest for Justice for Shukri Abdi on Trafalgar Square in London, following a raft of Black Lives Matter protests across the UK
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Police at the scene of an incident at the Park Inn Hotel in central Glasgow. Scottish police said armed officers shot dead a man after a suspected stabbing in the city centre left six others injured, including one of their colleagues. Several roads were closed and the surrounding area was cordoned off
AFP via Getty
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A horse is washed down at Haydock Racecourse
PA
49/50 24 June 2020
People enjoy the hot weather on Margate beach
Reuters
50/50 23 June 2020
Tony Bennett the owner of The Devereux pub in Temple, London. Pub and hospitality bosses have cheered the Government’s proposals to allow customers through their doors again on July 4 as “a welcome relief”. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be able to reopen from July 4, with “one metre-plus” distancing measures in place
PA
Foreign office minister Mr Cleverly tweeted: “Can I have a large scoop of statistically inaccurate virtue signalling with my grossly overpriced ice cream, please?”
The strange spat began when the company’s UK Twitter account posted several tweets tagging the home secretary, beginning: “Hey @PritiPatel, we think the real crisis is our lack of humanity for people fleeing war, climate change and torture.”
Condemning the government’s rhetoric, the firm added: “People cannot be illegal. And, it is enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention that crossing a border ‘illegally’ should not impact your asylum claim.”
Mr Cleverly appeared to take issue with the ice cream company’s claim that “the UK hasn’t resettled any refugees since March”.
Although the UK’s refugee resettlement scheme has been frozen since March, asylum seekers have been able to make a claim for family union as they arrive into the UK.
Ben and Jerry’s was founded in 1978 by best friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield before being sold to the multinational Unilever in 2000.
Mr Greenfield has described himself as an “ageing hippy” – telling The Independent in 2015 that he and his friend “still try to make a difference” despite having no formal role at the ice cream company.
