Fruit scones, now at the centre of the culture wars.

GB News has turned the outrage levels up to 11, this time over the most unlikely of subjects – scones.

It was fainting couches at the ready at GB News Towers as the broadcaster picked up on a story about how the National Trust was selling only dairy-free vegan scones its cafes, and bemoaned a victory for “wokery”.

To be clear from the outset, millions of scones served annually in the trust’s 280 tearooms are made with margarine, an alternative to butter that is a staple of British households. The charity’s recipe has not changed for decades, and there’s no stopping customers putting butter or cream on top.

Anyway, in a clip being mocked on X, presenter Dawn Neesom put the bellows under the fire by claiming making scones with marg is “outrageous”.

“I’m not happy with this,” she fumed. “Why should everyone go vegan just because a tiny minority of the country are?”

Reform UK co-deputy leader Ben Habib was handed the baton, laying into the “famously woke” National Trust – referencing widely “misrepresented” evidence to MPs on inclusivity in the countryside, that the trust didn’t even contribute to.

That detail aside, Habib said: “This is an institution which is charged to protect the heritage of the United Kingdom. But they hold the heritage of the United Kingdom in contempt.”

Ben Habib/GBnews are outraged that the National Trust is only selling vegan scones. 🤣

"The National Trust is famously woke... they came out pro-BLM.... they hold the heritage of United Kingdom in contempt." pic.twitter.com/CaALqSYw0p

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) April 1, 2024

The GB News rage against the margarine appears to stem from a story in the Daily Mail, which wrote the National Trust uses a “vegetable-based spread instead of butter” in its scones and lined up an angry customer and MP.

Again, the “plant-based” baked goods are made with what has been an everyday product in British households since rationing in the Second World War.

Apparently unconcerned by the media furore, Celia Richardson, the trust’s director of communications, wrote on social media how she was about to appear on the radio to explain how to “secretly virtue signal using an unchanged but now apparently woke scone recipe”.

GB News claims the National Trust ‘holds our heritage in contempt’, over #wokesconegate. But margarine (which we’ve used in scones for decades) has been part of UK heritage since at least WW2. And am I alone in remembering Bruce Forsyth’s Stork SB challenge? Classic heritage TV! https://t.co/2OzHeXQf1L

— Celia Richardson (@CeliaRichards0n) April 1, 2024

A National Trust spokesperson said: “Our cafes serve millions of customers a year and we work hard to accommodate dietary needs and allergies. Our scones are made with vegetable-based spread. This means our iconic plain and fruit scones can be enjoyed by those with dairy allergies and vegans.”