Lush launches product to resist UK government assault on justice system

Lush is no stranger to standing up for what’s right. And now, it has launched a new product to highlight the dangers of the “constitutional crisis taking place in our courts”. The company will donate “75% of the sale price (minus tax)” to Defend Our Juries, which it says has been working hard:

defending our right to protest and to a fair trial.

Defend Our Juries has been a vocal organiser against the Labour government’s highly controversial ban of Palestine Action. As Lush states on the web page for its new product:

Defend Our Juries is a movement of people dedicated to making sure everyone knows their rights when on a jury, exposing the corruption of democracy and the rule of law, protecting the right to protest and educating the public on their legal rights.

Lush: “Juries provide a vital common sense safety check”

Lush explained its reasons for supporting Defend Our Juries with its new ‘Resilient’ bath bomb, stressing that:

When juries can hear the whole truth as to why people have taken action in instances of standing up for human rights, animals or the environment, they have often returned ‘not guilty’ verdicts. Juries provide a vital common sense safety check to make sure the law is working for all of us (not just the powerful few!) and they recognise sometimes it is justifiable to break the law to prevent greater crimes.

Under Keir Starmer’s increasingly dystopian government, there has been a real assault on the legal system – largely due to widespread public opposition to its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And referring to this context, Lush asserted that:

In the UK more and more peaceful protestors are being arrested, given unfair trials and prison sentences of up to 5 years. Judges are banning activists from disclosing the reasons behind their actions to the jury. In the UK, some people have even been sent to prison simply for explaining their actions in court!

The company added that Resilient has no “unnecessary packaging” and uses ingredients that support responsible management of natural resources. The product contains coarse sea salt, grapefruit oil, and lemon oil, among other ingredients. And Lush says it’s “ideal for taking a stand, then taking a soak”.

A shining light on the high street

Lush has a long, proud record of sneaking the politics of justice and compassion onto our high streets. Consistently opposing racism, state abuses, and war, it has shown it’s possible to make popular products and harness profits for good without selling your soul in the process. For example, it has:

• Backed humanitarian initiatives in Gaza via its watermelon soap (and shut down for a day in 2025 in solidarity with people suffering in Gaza).
• Launched a product to support the mental health of children in Ukraine.
• Resisted the racist scapegoating of immigrant communities.
• Opposed Conservative efforts to crack down on our human rights.
• Highlighted the ongoing Spycops scandal, which revealed the massive, decades-long spying campaign the UK state launched to undermine countless left-wing movements.
• Taken a “firm stand against predatory algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and the systematic decay of online spaces” by leaving most social media platforms in 2021. (It has just joined Bluesky, however, which it believes is more transparent.)

Lush is very much a shining light in the business world. And its latest support for Defend Our Juries’ important work shows it doesn’t plan to change that any time soon.

Featured image via the Canary