Yorkshire Tea have voiced their support for Black Lives Matter after a right-wing YouTuber praised them for ‘not supporting’ the cause.
Yorkshire Tea told YouTuber Laura Towler not to buy their tea again, after she tweeted that she was 'dead chuffed' they were not supporting Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter, shortened to BLM, has prompted a global response following the death of George Floyd.
Laura, who is described as an ‘influential far-right vlogger’ by Hope Not Hate, took to Twitter to praise the tea company initially.
She wrote, ‘I’m dead chuffed that Yorkshire Tea has not supported BLM’ alongside a grinning face.
But Yorkshire Tea was quick to respond to her, writing, ‘Please don't buy our tea again.
‘We're taking some time to educate ourselves and plan proper action before we post. We stand against racism. #BlackLivesMatter’
Yorkshire Tea aren’t the only ones who’ve showed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, as PG Tips also responded to a consumer.
The tweet, which has now been deleted, read, ‘So now I’ve got to buy PG Tips??
‘Well f me. This sucks. And Yorkshire Tea is done. Good luck with the bs stance’.
PG Tips replied to this by writing, ‘Yeah it does suck, Pamela. If you are boycotting teas that stand against racism, you're going to have to find two new tea brands now. #blacklivesmatter #solidaritea’
Read more: How and when to start talking to children about racism
Even Teapigs got involved, adding, ‘Nicely done guys. Make that three #solidaritea’
Many people have praised the tea brands for showing solidarity and sticking together, but others have criticised them for ‘virtue signalling’ - defined as 'the popular modern habit of indicating that one has virtue merely by expressing disgust or favour for certain political ideas or cultural happenings' by the Cambridge Dictionary.
However, Yorkshire Tea did highlight they were educating themselves and planning 'proper action', so we look forward to see what their next steps will be!
Laura Towler has since changed her Twitter bio to read ‘disavowed by Yorkshire Tea’ following the backlash to her original tweet.
Some Twitter users are now keen to see if other tea brands will choose to get involved…
