Madness Alert! Muslim Staff at Marks & Spencer Can Refuse to Sell Alcohol and Pork

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marks & Spencer says its Muslim staff do not have to sell pork or alcohol to customers

Muslim staff working for Marks & Spencer have been given permission to refuse to serve customers buying alcohol or pork products[.]

Its policy decision has highlighted a split among the big food retailers over whether religious staff should be excused certain jobs.

In contrast to M&S, Sainsbury’s said it had issued official guidelines that stated there was no reason why staff who did not drink alcohol or eat pork for religious reasons could not handle the goods.

The advice followed consultations with religious groups, said a spokesman.

Tesco said it treated each case on its merits, but said it “made no sense” to employ staff on a till who refused to touch certain items for religious reasons.

Asda said it would not deploy Muslims on tills who objected to handling alcohol, while Morrisons, which is based in Bradford where there is a large Muslim community, said it had widespread experience of dealing with the issue and would “respect and work around anyone’s wishes not to handle specific products for religious or cultural reasons”.

At M&S, Muslim staff who do not wish to handle alcohol or pork have been told they can politely request that customers choose another till at which to pay. » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, December 21, 2013

Le retour des deux “nations” britanniques: la riche et la pauvre
LE MONDE: Dans son roman Sybil, Benjamin Disraeli, premier ministre de la reine Victoria, avait condamné la coupure du royaume en "deux nations entre lesquelles il n'y a ni relation ni sympathie... les riches et les pauvres". Ce thème, récurrent sous le gouvernement Thatcher (1979-1990), est redevenu d'actualité.

"En trente-cinq années de métier dans la distribution, je n'ai jamais vu de disparités aussi grandes : à Londres et dans le Sud, les nantis s'enrichissent, dans le reste du pays, les gens s'appauvrissent. Je ne reconnais plus le Royaume-Uni" : directeur général des grands magasins Marks & Spencer, Stuart Rose a repris à son compte la remarque de Disraeli. Malgré la baisse du nombre de touristes américains et japonais ou le ralentissement économique, lors des fêtes de fin d'année, les ventes de M & S ont explosé à Londres et dans les comtés voisins. En revanche, le chiffre d'affaires de l'enseigne dans le nord de l'Angleterre et en Ecosse a fortement diminué.

Lacunes du système éducatif

Dans la foulée, un rapport de l'institut des études fiscales, Institute for Fiscal Studies, confirme le fossé grandissant entre les riches et le reste de la population depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir du Labour, en 1997. Les 47 000 contribuables gagnant plus de 350 000 livres brut par an vivent dans leur quasi-totalité à Londres.

A l'évidence, cet écart régional est fécondé par le formidable essor des services, en particulier financiers, dans la capitale britannique. A l'exception des multinationales, pharmacie, défense, aéronautique etc., l'industrie britannique installée dans le vieux Pays noir, a souffert des délocalisations et de la concurrence étrangère, sans parler de la fermeté jusqu'il y a peu de la livre sterling.

Le Nord est pénalisé par une infrastructure de transports inférieure et les lacunes du système éducatif d'Etat. Tandis que les rémunérations s'envolent dans le tertiaire, les ouvriers et employés voient leurs revenus amputés par la hausse de la fiscalité indirecte et l'inflation. Cette situation contrastée est aussi patente dans les régions rurales du Sud-Ouest. Le retour des deux "nations" britanniques : la riche et la pauvre >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

No M&S! There Has Been No “Misunderstanding”! The Case is Clear: Muslims Consider the Bible to Be Unclean
This is more proof, if indeed even more proof were needed, that Muslims will not, and, given their mindset, cannot, fit in to the free and democratic West. It’s time that we all faced up to this fact. Another thing springs to mind: M&S has Jewish roots. So what is a Muslim doing working in M&S in the first place?

THE TELEGRAPH: Marks and Spencer has launched an investigation after a customer claimed a Muslim shop assistant refused to handle a Bible she was buying.

Sally Friday said she felt “humiliated” after going to the till to pay for a First Bible Stories for her young grandson.

She said the woman behind the till refused to touch the book once she realised what it was, and made a reference to a fellow worker about being “unclean”.

Mrs Friday, 69, said: “The young lady was absolutely fine with the other stuff I was buying but when it came to the Bible she refused to touch it and asked me to put it in the shopping bag myself.

"She turned to another worker and said something about being unclean and at first I thought she was referring to a skirt I was buying and that there was a mark on it. Then she asked me to put the Bible in my shopping bag myself.

"It took me a while to realise what was happening and I felt humiliated that someone could censor what I was buying.

"If she was refusing to touch it on religious grounds then that is not on. We are a tolerant, Christian country and I could not see a Christian shop assistant refusing to touch something from another religion.

"If you are paid to do a job like that then you should get on and do it." Muslim M&S worker 'refused to touch Bible' >>> By Nick Britten

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Bible