The other day I spotted this rather hostile sign outside my local Lush. “Racism is a threat to our community, not migrants”, it reads.
Furthermore, the shop window was covered in messages such as “Landlords raise your rent”, “Politicians underfund the NHS” and “Billionaires make you poorer”. The usual socialist tropes.
Interestingly on the top right of the store window it reads “Migrants’ Rights Network”, which is a “UK charity that stands in solidarity with all migrants in their fights for rights and justice.”
Very interestingly, it is based at Pelican House, which is where Britain’s Far Left organises:
From March 16 to 30, Migrants’ Rights Network is “partnering with Lush for a nationwide public awareness and fundraising charity campaign calling out the growing use of racist narratives to divide our communities and distract from the real issues people face across the UK.”
Just what you want when you’re buying a bar of soap…
As part of the campaign, rolled out in all 101 Lush stores in the UK, Lush customers are offered a “Words Matter booklet… examining harmful migration narratives in the UK.”
The 36-page document delves into Islamophobia…
… smuggling gangs…
… and colonialism:
You can find the whole thing here.
Lush customers can support Migrants’ Rights Network by buying its “Hand of Friendship” bath bomb for £6.50.
Lush says “This limited-edition bath bomb is helping to create a world where everyone is free to move and no one is forced to move.”
I had a sense of deja vu reading this, as it sounds very similar to the quote used by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) for its “Migration Fund”:
Recipients of the PHF’s Migration Fund include City of Sanctuary UK, Black Lives Matter UK, Asylum Justice, Common Knowledge (based at Pelican House), Right to Remain, Asylum Support Appeals Project, The Refugee, Asylum and Migration Policy (RAMP) Project (which donates to Liberal Democrat Tim Farron and Labour’s Olivia Blake), Social Workers Without Borders, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Bail for Immigration Detainees, The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Hope Not Hate Charitable Trust. You get the picture!
Unsurprisingly, the PHF also funds Migrants’ Rights Network:
This is a fact made worse by the fact the PHF received £1.4 million from taxpayers between 2020-23:
PHF is not the only big funder of Migrants’ Rights Network. The full list, published on the charity’s website, is:
AB Charitable Trust
City Bridge Foundation
Disrupt Foundation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
City St George’s
Baring Foundation
Ben & Jerry’s Fund
Migrant Futures Institute
Most of these come up whenever I am researching open-border charities and their funders, particularly the AB Charitable Trust, City Bridge Foundation, Esmee Fairburn Foundation and Baring Foundation (and, of course, PHF – which is by far the worst open-border funder, in my view).
There’s also the uber ghastly Ben & Jerry’s Fund.
To add, it’s not only the Paul Hamlyn Foundation that has received taxpayer funding. City Bridge Foundation received £63,000 between 2020-21.
While it isn’t the case that taxpayer funds are directly going towards Lush/ its joint campaign with Migrants’ Rights Network, it is shocking that part-taxpayer-funded institutions are part of this ghastly open-border system.
