Cadbury Easter row: Theresa May wades in to argument - and ends up with egg on her face

Theresa May has stuck her oar into the row over Cadbury and the National Trust which have – apparently – not used the word “Easter” in an egg hunt, branding the move “absolutely ridiculous”.

Mrs May got involved after it emerged the chocolate maker’s annual Easter campaign (run in conjunction with the National Trust) is this year called the “Cadbury’s Great British Egg Hunt”.

The Prime Minister, a vicar’s daughter, told ITV News: “I’m not just a vicar’s daughter – I’m a member of the National Trust as well.

“I think the stance they have taken is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t know what they are 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.”

However, the PM appeared to be unaware that the campaign’s website and promotional materials are in fact plastered with the word “Easter”.

The Archbishop of York criticised the lack of religious reference in the name for the series of events taking place around the country, during which small children will forage through foliage at 300 National Trust properties looking for brightly painted chocolate eggs.

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Archbishop John Sentamu likened the name to “spitting on the grave” of Cadbury’s Quaker founder John Cadbury.

He told the Telegraph, “To drop Easter from Cadbury’s Easter Egg Hunt in my book is tantamount to spitting on the grave of Cadbury.”

A quick search of the National Trust’s Egg Hunt website revealed 14 uses of the word “Easter”.

A bemused spokesman for the Trust responded to the accusations, saying: “It’s nonsense to suggest the National Trust is downplaying the significance of Easter. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Twitter users were quick to point out that Mrs May’s condemnation of the Easter debacle came at a time she was defending the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia – a country accused of sparking a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Yemen.

The Prime Minister also raised eyebrows last week when she defended the Daily Mail’s ‘Legs-it’ front page over accusations of sexism, calling it ‘a bit of fun’.

It’s not the first time that Cadbury has come under fire from those concerned that the word “Easter” is being airbrushed from its chocolatey history.

Just two weeks ago, social media users became upset when the news spread that the word ‘Easter’ was being removed from the boxes of its chocolate eggs. This turned out to be false.