M&S faces boycott as it lets Muslim staff refuse to sell alcohol or pork



Marks & Spencer's policy applies to Muslim staff in more than 700 stores



Shoppers are being asked to wait to pay for certain items at different till

Highlights divide among mainstream food retailers over religious workers



Furious M&S customers threatened to boycott the store last night for allowing Muslim checkout staff to refuse to serve customers who want to pay for alcohol or pork.

Managers at a London store told the workers they could ask any shoppers trying to buy the items to wait until a different till was available, it emerged yesterday.

One shopper said: 'I had one bottle of champagne, and the lady, who was wearing a headscarf, was very apologetic but said she could not serve me. She told me to wait until another member of staff was available.

Policy: Marks & Spencer has told Muslim staff they can refuse to serve shoppers buying alcohol or pork

Wait: Instead, shoppers are being asked to wait to pay for goods like alcohol at a different till (file picture)

'I was taken aback. I've never come across that before.'

Last night, Marks & Spencer said the advice had been given in error and was not consistent with its national policy.

But customers bombarded the store's Facebook page to complain, while another site was set up calling on shoppers to boycott M&S.



More than 1,500 others put posts on MailOnline.

Customer Matt Syson wrote: 'If you have Christian workers who wish to refuse the sale of ladies' garments to male homosexuals or men's trousers to lesbians, I do hope you will stand by those workers' religious or personal beliefs.

'My family and I shall no longer purchase any goods from your company due to the implementation of this “one rule system” that creates further division and hatred within our communities.'



Decision: The chain said the policy of tolerance acknowledges the beliefs of other religious workers

Angela Phillips posted: 'If M&S go ahead with this they are going to lose so many loyal customers.

'If they do not want to serve people with pork or alcohol they shouldn't work in the food hall. Simple!'

Heather Playdon posted on the store's Facebook page: 'I shan't be shopping in M&S any more. The quintessentially British retailer bows down to Muslim beliefs. And in turn alienates the majority of Christian and non-religious customers. Outrageous.'

Contrast: However, Sainsbury's has issued guidelines stating that all staff members must be treated 'fairly'

'No sense': Meanwhile, Tesco said it 'would make no sense' to employ staff who refused to touch specific items

Sainsbury's guidelines state there is no reason why staff who do not drink alcohol or eat pork for religious reasons cannot handle them. Tesco said it made no sense to put staff on a till if they refused to touch certain items for religious reasons.

Asda said it would not deploy any Muslims on tills who objected to handling alcohol, while Morrisons, which is based in Bradford where there is a large Muslim community, said it would 'respect anyone's wishes not to handle products for religious or cultural reasons'.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said: 'If supermarkets do not put up a notice saying “This desk does not handle alcoholic beverages”, shoppers could be humiliated when they get to the checkout.'

An M&S spokesman said: 'Customer service is our priority. Where we have an employee whose religious beliefs restrict food or drink they can handle, we work closely with our member of staff to place them in a suitable role, such as in our clothing department or bakery.

'We regret that in the case highlighted today we were not following our own policy.

'As a secular business we have an inclusive policy that welcomes all religious beliefs.

'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.'



