{"id":2962,"date":"2012-03-23T16:54:55","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=2962"},"modified":"2012-03-23T16:54:55","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:54:55","slug":"tesco-run-to-police-over-leaflets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/tesco-run-to-police-over-leaflets\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesco run to police over leaflets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A rogue Tesco manageress has used the police to try to stop Christians giving out leaflets outside her store about Tesco’s \u00a330,000 support of this year’s ‘London Gay Pride’.<\/p>\n

Christian Voice member Raj Bhachoo was arrested in Gravesend on 21st January 2012 outside the Tesco Metro after the manageress called the police.<\/p>\n

Raj, a Christian convert from Sikhism,\u00a0appeared at Dartford Magistrates Court yesterday<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 A trial date was set for 24th September.\u00a0 He was acquitted just over two weeks ago in Camberwell in a separate case involving an email he sent to Stonewall<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No other Christian Voice activist has reported any problem at all giving out the Tesco leaflets.\u00a0 Christian Voice National Director Stephen Green has not only given out the leaflets outside two Tescos near Baker Street in London, but also outside the very Tesco Metro in Gravesend where Raj was arrested, precisely two weeks after his arrest.<\/p>\n

Stephen Green reports:<\/p>\n

‘For Dartford Magistrates to set a trial date instead of dismissing the case is a surprise.\u00a0 Christians have freedom to preach the word on the streets<\/a><\/strong>, even if it offends homosexuals.\u00a0 Christian preacher Michael Overd, whom I supported, was recently acquitted in Taunton<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Raj was acquitted in Camberwell.<\/p>\n

‘I and two Christian Voice ladies gave out 400 Tesco leaflets right outside the Gravesend Tesco on Saturday 4th February.\u00a0 We gave the police prior notice that this was what we were going to do.\u00a0 Again, the manageress came out and again she was abusive and again she called the police.\u00a0 But in my case the police came, walked past me, went inside Tesco, and engaged in conversation with the staff for what seemed like half-an-hour.<\/p>\n

‘Eventually, having given out all our leaflets and getting tired of standing around in the cold, I had to go into Tesco and actually ask the police if I was going to be arrested.\u00a0 Receiving the answer ‘No’, I and the ladies left.<\/p>\n

‘South Wales Police arrested and charged me in similar circumstances in 2006, only for the case to collapse on grounds of freedom of expression,\u00a0whereupon I sued SWP and won<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Possibly, being aware of that, Kent Police have taken the view that they can bully Raj but not me.\u00a0 My case did not even come to trial, but even though a trial date has been set, Raj will be acquitted.<\/p>\n

‘Clearly, Tesco staff in Gravesend do not believe in freedom of speech, but drafting in the police is counter-productive and heavy-handed.\u00a0 Such a problem has not been experienced anywhere else, and I call on the Tesco Chief Executive, Philip Clarke, to send a message to all his stores that we prize freedom of speech in this country and that a more mature approach is called for which does not waste police time every time a protest turns up on the doorstep.’<\/p>\n

Tesco’s announcement of sponsorship of the 2012 London Gay Pride just weeks before Christmas and their promotion of homosexuality within the store was a severe error of judgment.\u00a0 Lack of judgment also meant their September ‘big price drop’ was a ‘big cost flop’.\u00a0 Their market share and their profits nose-dived over Christmas,\u00a0the only one of the ‘big four’ to do so<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Their share price tumbled by 20% overall<\/a><\/strong>, including a 14% drop in one day, wiping billions off their valuation.\u00a0 Since then, their market share has fallen further and their UK Chief Executive, Richard Brasher, resigned<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The Guardian’s Nils Pratley<\/a><\/strong> said he was a fall guy and that Philip Clarke now has less than a year to straighten Tesco out.<\/p>\n

In view of Tesco’s action in Gravesend, there are six important and effective things Christians can do<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

1 Pray <\/strong>that God will send repentance into the Tesco boardroom, and that they will reverse their grant to gay pride..<\/p>\n

2 Boycott Tesco<\/strong> and encourage others to do the same.<\/p>\n

3 Mount a witness<\/strong> with banners and\/or give leaflets out to shoppers outside Tesco\u2019s high street stores \u2018Tesco Direct\u2019 (they can ask you to leave their car park, but you have every right to witness on the street).\u00a0 Contact us for leaflets on 01994 484544 or email info@christianvoice.org.uk<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(there is a spam arrest filter if you have not emailed us before).\u00a0 The text of the LEAFLET is HERE<\/a>\u00a0 Always go in pairs or a group, not alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 Email\/write<\/strong> to\u00a0the Tesco Group Chief Executive, Philip Clark,\u00a0 philip.clarke@tesco.com<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 You can also write to their new Chairman, Sir Richard Broadbent, at New Tesco House, Delamare Rd, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 9SL.\u00a0 His email seems to be: richard.broadbent@tesco.com<\/a>. <\/strong>\u00a0Ask them what their policy is regarding freedom of speech and what advice they have given or will be giving to branch managers who have Christians leafleting outside their stores.<\/p>\n

5 Sign our petition \u2018Boycott Tesco\u2019<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

6 If you do not receive our monthly newsletter, Join Christian Voice!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Previous related stories in www.ChristianVoice.org.uk<\/a>:<\/p>\n

TESCO LEAFLET – the full text<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

07\/03\/2012 Christian \u2018Not Guilty\u2019 in Stonewall email case<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

10\/02\/2012 Taunton Preacher ‘Not Guilty’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

12\/01\/2012 Shares dive as Tesco sales slump<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

06\/01\/2012 TESCO \u2013 from the horse\u2019s mouth<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

03\/01\/2012 <\/strong>Tesco rattled by Christian Voice campaign<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

20\/12\/2012 Tesco Head is Anti-Christian Bigot<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

18\/11\/2012 Prayer will humble proud Tesco<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What an ex-Tesco Customer wrote<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A rogue Tesco manageress has used the police to try to stop Christians giving out leaflets outside her store about Tesco’s \u00a330,000 support of this year’s ‘London Gay Pride’. Christian Voice member Raj Bhachoo was arrested in Gravesend on 21st January 2012 outside the Tesco Metro after the manageress called the police. Raj, a Christian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Stephen","author_link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/author\/stephen\/"},"rttpg_comment":4,"rttpg_category":"Uncategorised<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"A rogue Tesco manageress has used the police to try to stop Christians giving out leaflets outside her store about Tesco’s \u00a330,000 support of this year’s ‘London Gay Pride’. Christian Voice member Raj Bhachoo was arrested in Gravesend on 21st January 2012 outside the Tesco Metro after the manageress called the police. Raj, a Christian…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}