Sally Bercow said that Thorntons, which is closing 120 stores, was a "yuck tasting rip off" and said she preffered Hotel du Chocolate, an up market alternative.
She described Carpetright, which is closing stores after announcing a 70 per cent fall in profits, as "over-rated", adding that she preferred wood floor and rugs.
Mrs Bercow, who is married to John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, said that Jane Norman, the clothes retailer which has announced that 33 stores will shut and 400 staff will be made redundant, was a shop selling "clothes for skinny minies".
She wrote: "Altho' it's VERY sad that Habitat, Jane Norman, Carpetright, Thorntons, Focus DIY are going under, I never *actually* shop at any of 'em... Thorntons chocolate is yuck tasting rip-off, carpet is overrated (wood & rugs the way to go) and Jane Norman clothes for skinny minnies...”.
Her comments were criticised by Chris Williamson, the Labour MP for Derby North, who said: “Your tweet about Thorntons was a bit insensitive Sally when hundreds of workers have just learned they'll be losing their jobs.”Mrs Bercow replied: “Fair comment Chris. I do think Thorntons choc is over-rated BUT obvsly my heart goes out to anybody losing their job...”
Other retail groups were also upset. Richard Dodd, a spokesman from the British Retail Consortium, said: “There are real people with real jobs and real households who depend on them. On a human level they deserve some sympathy.
“The last thing they will need is to hear suggestions that there are inferior retailers. Thorntons has cut some stores but it is not closing down.
“From a figure who knows that her comments attract attention, she should show some human feeling to the people involved and some recognition of the economic significance of store closures.”
George MacDonald, the deputy editor of Retail Week magazine, said: “For someone in her position to make such sneering comments just shows how divorced she is from the real world and ordinary people's lives.
“Where does she do all her shopping? Harrods? We're talking about tens of thousands of jobs here and it is deeply insensitive to be so flippant about it.”
Thorntons said the company did not want to comment, but a spokesman said it was "certainly not "going under'" and that its chocolates were good value.
The comments on Twitter are not the first time Mrs Bercow has got into hot water. In February, she posed for a revealing picture clad in a white bedsheet while candidly discussing the aphrodisiac power of Westminster politics.
In an interview, she claimed that her husband’s job meant the couple were both "hit on" by members of the opposite sex, and spoke of finding their grace-and-favour home "sexy".
In 2009, she said that while working in advertising in the mid-1990s, she was a heavy-drinking "ladette", who would often down two bottles of wine a day and have one-night stands with men who bought her a drink.
Other retail groups were also upset. Richard Dodd, a spokesman from the British Retail Consortium, said: “There are real people with real jobs and real households who depend on them. On a human level they deserve some sympathy.
“The last thing they will need is to hear suggestions that there are inferior retailers. Thorntons has cut some stores but it is not closing down.
“From a figure who knows that her comments attract attention, she should show some human feeling to the people involved and some recognition of the economic significance of store closures.”
George MacDonald, the deputy editor of Retail Week magazine, said: “For someone in her position to make such sneering comments just shows how divorced she is from the real world and ordinary people's lives.
“Where does she do all her shopping? Harrods? We're talking about tens of thousands of jobs here and it is deeply insensitive to be so flippant about it.”
Thorntons said the company did not want to comment, but a spokesman said it was "certainly not "going under'" and that its chocolates were good value.
The comments on Twitter are not the first time Mrs Bercow has got into hot water. In February, she posed for a revealing picture clad in a white bedsheet while candidly discussing the aphrodisiac power of Westminster politics.
In an interview, she claimed that her husband’s job meant the couple were both "hit on" by members of the opposite sex, and spoke of finding their grace-and-favour home "sexy".
In 2009, she said that while working in advertising in the mid-1990s, she was a heavy-drinking "ladette", who would often down two bottles of wine a day and have one-night stands with men who bought her a drink.
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