Marks & Spencer Apologises after Muslim Staff Member Refused to Sell Customer Alcohol

I wrote yesterday about Marks & Spencer allowing their Muslim staff to refuse to serve customers alcohol or pork.

Today the story is on the national TV news.
I just watched both the BBC and Sky news reports about this story.

Apparently Marks & Spencer have apologised.
The Daily Mail headline made me laugh, and that's not something that ever happens when reading the usual nonsense the Mail prints.
They wrote, 'Not just any U-turn, this is a M&S U-turn'. 

The news said Marks & Spencer policy tries to ensure that any staff members who feel unable to handle alcohol or certain food products for religious reasons are given suitable roles.

A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said the branch where this incident took place had not followed 'internal policy' when the Muslim lady working on the till refused to serve a customer a bottle of Champagne.

The unnamed customer told the Telegraph she was 'taken aback' when the 'extremely apologetic' Muslim lady working on the till refused to sell her a bottle of Champagne and asked the customer to wait for another till to be available.

The customer told the newspaper, 'I had one bottle of champagne, and the lady, who was wearing a headscarf, was very apologetic but said she could not serve me. 'I was taken aback. I was a bit surprised. I've never come across that before'. 

Marks & Spencer said its policy wasn't just for Muslim staff members, it also applied for followers of religions other than Islam.

The Marks & Spencer spokeswoman said, 'Where we have an employee whose religious beliefs restrict food or drink they can handle, we work closely with our members of staff to place them in suitable role, such as in our clothing department or bakery in foods... '
As a secular business we have an inclusive policy that welcomes all religious beliefs whether across our customer or employee base'.

Marks and Spencer also said, 'This policy has been in place for many years, and when followed correctly, we do not believe that it should compromise our ability to offer the highest level of customer service. 
'We apologise that this policy was not followed in the case reported'.

Unsurprisingly the big supermarket chains are using this Marks & Spencer story to gain some free advertising.
Sainsbury's said that there is no reason why their staff, who do not drink alcohol or eat pork on religious grounds, could not handle the products.
Tesco said it made 'no sense' for staff who refuse to touch certain items for religious reasons to work on a till.
Asda said it does not have such a policy in place, 'but if any colleague had a serious concern about anything then we’d look at that on a case-by-case basis'.
Morrisons said they 'respect and work around anyone’s wishes not to handle specific products for religious or cultural reasons'.

I had no intention of mentioning this story again, but as it's made the TV news and is in all of the online newspapers I read, I thought it only fair that I say that Marks & Spencer have apologised.

It is all a bit crazy isn't it, these stories shouldn't even happen, let alone take up time on the news when other stories could be reported.
I mean, what next? Will Muslime workers refuse to sell bikinis because they expose so much flesh?
Or will a Christian refuse to serve a Muslim purchasing a headscarf because it could be considered a religious symbol.
Or a vegetarian refuse to serve anyone buying meat.
Or a vegan refuse to serve anyone wanting to buy meat, fish, cheese, eggs etc.
I could go on, and on...........

It is ridiculous.
Britain is a Christian country, or secular if you prefer, but whatever, it is not a Muslim country. So why are we constantly changing the rules to make Muslims feel comfortable?
If a Muslim person, whatever their nationality, does not like or agree with the way we live in Britain, then maybe they should move and live elsewhere. There are lots of Muslim countries to choose from.
And plenty of 'planes leaving daily from UK airports.

I don't really have anything more to say about this, I almost wish I hadn't posted about it yesterday, as it's not all that important, is it? At least compared to so many of the other reports in the news today.

Having said that, I do want to say one more thing - just to get the niggle out of my head, so here it is.
The consumption of alcohol is supposedly forbidden in Islam, with some Muslims refusing to touch alcohol in any way. And they don't eat pork.
I only have one Muslim friend who doesn't eat pork, and that's because he is a vegetarian, or so he says - I have seen him eating meat but never in his home. He enjoys a good booze-up too.
All of my other friends, who are Muslims, eat pork, and drink alcohol.
Having travelled extensively around the World, and visited several Muslim countries, I have never known a Muslim to refuse an alcoholic drink when they are out socialising. The Muslims I've met who obey the rules, more or less, mainly seemed to stick to the no-alcohol rule when in their own homes.
Interesting eh?
Or not.
Whatever.
I am not going to comment on this topic further. Honestly!