Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
The co-founder of Lush has said that people who oppose his views on major issues such as Gaza should not shop at his stores.
Mark Constantine OBE, who led the closure of Lush stores earlier this year in solidarity People In GazaSaid that people should “not come into my shop” if they disagree with his stance.
speaking on bbc bigg boss interview podcastMr Constantine said he believed in being “kind, sympathetic and compassionate”, and said that if people were “unkind to others” they “wouldn’t treat me very well”.
He said: “I’m often called a leftist because I’m interested in compassion. I don’t think being compassionate is a political stance. I think being compassionate, being empathetic, being compassionate is something we are all capable of and all want to do in certain areas.”
When asked whether his stance might affect business, for example, if someone decided not to shop at Lush because of his stance on Gaza, he said: “Absolutely, that’s what you want. [the shopper] Should do. You should not come to my shop. Because I’m going to take the profits you’re giving me and I’m going to make even more – so you shouldn’t support me at all.
“The only problem is who are you going to support? And who are you supporting when you do that? What is your position?”
He said: “I think it’s up to people whether they want to hunt foxes and shoot pheasants, that’s up to them, but I don’t accept that.”
In September, the cosmetics chain closed all of its stores and also took down its website for a day in solidarity with people going hungry in the UK. Gaza,
In a statement on its website, the company said: “At Lush Business we share the pain that millions of people feel after seeing images of starving people in Gaza, Palestine.”
The business, which trades in more than 50 countries, said it had posted messages in the windows of closed shops reading: “Stop starving Gaza, we are closed in solidarity.”
Speaking on a BBC podcast, Mr Constantine also criticized changes made by the government to inheritance tax from 6 April 2026, which will see the full exemption for family businesses removed, leaving only the first £1 million tax free.
“They don’t understand the power of family businesses… and they’ve been sold a belief in a greedy culture,” he said, adding that there was a risk people would sell businesses rather than pay inheritance tax bills.