This morning Theresa May said that the National Trust was “absolutely ridiculous” for the National Trust to drop the word
The charity was criticised by the Church of England on the front page of the Daily Telegraph this morning over dropping the word ‘Easter’ from chocolate egg hunts at its properties, and the Prime Minister was asked about it by ITV News.
She said: "Well, I think the stance they have taken is absolutely ridiculous and I don’t know what they’re thinking about, frankly.
"Easter's very important. It's important to me, it's a very important festival for the Christian faith for millions across the world.
"So I think what the National Trust is doing is frankly just ridiculous."
'Easter has been airbrushed'
In previous years the charity’s chocolate egg event, which is sponsored by Cadbury’s, has been called an “Easter Egg Trail” but this year has been rebranded as the “Great British Egg Hunt”.
A Church of England spokesman said: "This marketing campaign...highlights the folly in airbrushing faith from Easter."
The Archbishop of York condemned the decision and told the Telegraph that: "The Cadburys were Great Quaker industrialists. If people visited Birmingham today in the Cadbury World they will discover how Cadbury’s Christian faith influenced his industrial output.
"He built houses for all his workers, he built a church, he made provision for schools. It is obvious that for him Jesus and justice were two sides of the one coin. To drop Easter from Cadbury’s Easter Egg Hunt in my book is tantamount to spitting on the grave of Cadbury."
The story appeared in a number of national papers and on the BBC website.
National Trust: 'It’s nonsense'
The National Trust said in a statement that there are 13,000 references to Easter on its website.
A National Trust spokesman said: “It’s nonsense to suggest the National Trust is downplaying the significance of Easter. Nothing could be further from the truth. We host a huge programme of events, activities and walks to bring families together to celebrate this very special time of year.
“A casual glance at our website will see dozens of references to Easter throughout.
“Our Easter events include our partnership with Cadbury, which has been running Easter Egg Hunts with us for 10 years. They’ve proved consistently popular with our members and visitors. As part of its wider marketing activity at Easter, Cadbury will always lead on the branding and wording for its campaigns.”
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