Mail Scone Hypocrisy EXPOSED

The National Trust, that most British of institutions, has for the past two years been under sustained attack from a dubious convocation of bad faith actors: the Tufton Street brigade, the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, and overlapping both of these, a group calling itself Restore Trust, which is trying to get its placemen elected to the NT on the flimsiest of pretexts.

What the f***'s this got to do with me, c***?!?!?

Having accused the NT of “rewriting history” (another pack of lies), these vested interests then failed to get their people elected to the NT, and so then whined about the body being “undemocratic”. Yes, democracy is undemocratic. Most of the wacko propaganda has been invented by the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph. But not all of it.

So it was that the Daily Mail, claiming an “exclusive” for its non-revelation, declared earlier this week “National Trust secretly makes all its scones vegan - while critics condemn 'woke' use of vegetable-based spread instead of butter”, once again deliberately misusing the word “woke”. There was no secret, but there was another attempt to associate “vegan” with “bad”.

Anyhoo, do go on. “They are the much-loved staple enjoyed with jam and cream at its tearooms across the country … But the National Trust is now risking the ire of diners after admitting its scones have gone vegan - and that they 'may taste different to the traditional version’”. Big intercoursing deal.

Sadly, there was more. “Critics have condemned the use of a vegetable-based spread instead of butter in the baking as a 'virtue-signalling betrayal', in what looks like yet another woke row involving the charity”. A row about people being “alert to injustice within society, especially racism”? What does that have to do with scones? It doesn’t. But the Mail was not finished. Yet.

“Campaign group Restore Trust, which wants to rid the charity of its 'divisive ideologies' and 'activism', slammed the move … Chairman Cornelia van der Poll said: 'It is unfortunate that the National Trust can't even get scones right, let alone bigger issues such as properly looking after the properties in its care.’”. Restore Trust, having lost twice as NT members saw them coming, inventing “ideology” the Trust doesn’t have, and “activism” it doesn’t do.

(c) Kate Whitaker

Only after the Mail tells its readers what to think does it also tell “Last night, a spokesman for the trust said: 'Our cafes serve millions of customers a year and we work hard to accommodate dietary needs and allergies. Our scones are made with vegetable-based spread. This means our iconic plain and fruit scones can be enjoyed by those with dairy allergies and vegans.’”

What it has not told is that there is no secret, and that the Mail has been caught trying to play both sides of the field (again). Celia Richardson, the NT’s communications director, responded to the “secret” dishonesty by reminding us “National Trust scones have been made without butter for many years and we publish all our recipes”. More crap Mail propaganda, then.

And it got worse as she told yesterday “Stand by for the National Trust's Coleen Rooney moment. It's a Wagatha Christie-style discovery, but for scones, and it's big”. Big, y’know, big. BIG! And, just to really upset the Mail, she pronounces it “s-con” - not “s-cone”. So what’s the reveal?

“Yesterday the Daily Mail claimed [the National Trust] has 'secretly' stopped using butter in its scones in a 'virtue-signalling betrayal' of heritage. It now transpires the very same Daily Mail glowingly published our scone recipe in 2018 MADE WITH MARGARINE!!!” Under the headline “National pleasure: Fruit scones”, the Mail had gushed “Celebrate the great British tradition of afternoon tea by serving up some of the truly scrumptious recipes from a new book by the National Trust”. Could it get worse for the Dacre doggies?

It certainly could. “National Trust tearooms around the country are proud of their scones. Serve simply with good strawberry jam and generous spoonfuls of clotted cream for the perfect afternoon tea”. And there was the recipe. No butter. But 115 grams of soft margarine. Gushed over by the Mail.

No secrets, and bang to rights again. The inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker are full of crap. But you knew that already.

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