Ben And Jerry’s PWNS Telegraph

Such is the sensitivity of some in the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press that it takes very little to send them into righteous pearl-clutching overdrive, and so it has been with the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph. where assembled hacks have been well and truly Pwned by nothing more than a Tweet. With an image attached.

Suella Braverman. Now Home Secretary. Seriously

But it was a Tweet from Ben and Jerry’s, which means that by definition it was A Very Bad Thing Indeed. It was also WOKE WOKE WOKE, because, well, it just was, even though the hack writing the article probably doesn’t know what the word means. So what had a niche ice cream brand done that had got the Tel’s goat? And will lots of Tory Twitter bots withdraw their mythical custom?

“Ben and Jerry's under fire for dishing out policy advice to Suella Braverman” is the headline, the Tel seemingly unaware that, for Ben and Jerry’s, this is not the first time they have tweaked a politician, and have most likely concluded that no publicity is bad publicity. But do go on. “Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's is facing criticism for publishing a to-do list for Suella Braverman, the new Home Secretary, suggesting she should ‘scrap the Rwanda plan’ and take dessert breaks”. Ice cream breaks, more specifically.

There was more. “The firm's UK Twitter account tweeted a message of congratulations to Ms Braverman, accompanied with the image of a list including various objectives for her first day in the role on September 7, such as to ‘introduce safe routes to the UK for people seeking asylum’ and ‘lift the ban and give people seeking asylum the right to work’ … The company also included a coffee and ice cream break in the list, yet drew ire from commentators for intruding into politics”. Who would those commentators be?

Sadly, it was only one commentator. “On Wednesday, John Hayes MP said: ‘If you want to buy some ice cream you go to an ice cream company, if you want public policy you don’t.’” Were Andrew Bridgen and Mark François (note cedilla under the c) unavailable? Couldn’t they find anyone else to comment?

“Ben & Jerry's on Wednesday faced a backlash to their tweet with the Campaign for Common Sense calling on them to ‘stick to selling ice cream’”. Who gives a flying foxtrot what the Campaign for Common Sense thinks? Its front man, Mark Lehain, is a former Tory Parliamentary candidate. Someone who claimed “It hasn’t been easy being a Tory in education”. Perhaps he ought to team up with someone like the loathsome Toby Young.

But the Tel is not easily distracted. “It is not the first time the company has landed in hot water for taking a political stance … Kemi Badenoch has previously called out the ‘Ben & Jerry’s tendencies’ of companies focusing on social justice rather than profits”. That’s very much their business, not hers.

There was more. “In August 2020, the company tweeted at Priti Patel, the then home secretary, stating: ‘People wouldn’t make dangerous journeys if they had any other choice. The UK hasn’t resettled any refugees since March, but wars and violence continue. What we need is more safe and legal routes’”. Facts and advocacy, eh? The Tories will soon put a stop to that.

And the Tel wants us to know that Ms Braverman is going to get tough. On absolutely everything. “Under the new Home Secretary, MPs are expecting a crackdown on migrants’ use of the modern slavery act to avoid deportation by raising the threshold for evidence for claims, a one-stop shop approach by preventing repeated submissions of new evidence and curbs on claims on trafficking that occurred outside the UK”. And even tougher.

“Greater use of detention of migrants in secure accommodation is also being considered to act as a further deterrent to the record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel. Nearly 28,000 have reached the UK so far this year, double the rate in 2021”. Yeah, none of that wishy-washy namby-pamby allowing them to work. Let the crops rot in the fields so we can be tough.

Ben and Jerry’s has got itself more publicity, more cachet with its target demographic. It has also exposed the nastier side of the Tories and their cheerleaders, the xenophobia, the bigotry, the sheer intolerance.

Thus the goons at the Tel are well and truly Pwned. No surprise there.

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