Retailer Poundland has hit back at columnist Daniel Hannan after the Daily Mail labelled French President Emmanuel Macron a 'Poundland Putin'.
France has reportedly threatened to cut off Jersey's power supply in a post-Brexit fishing row that has seen the Royal Navy and French Maritime Gendarmerie deploy vessels after protests described as being 'like an invasion'.
The dispute prompted Lord Hannan - who campaigned for the UK to leave the EU - to pen a column for the Daily Mail headlined: 'Emmanuel Macron, the new Napoleon? No, he's a Poundland Putin.'
"A stable democracy doesn’t threaten to cut off its neighbour’s energy supplies. That is the sort of behaviour we associate with rogue states," wrote Lord Hannan, in the Mail.
"Putin’s Russia, for example, sometimes resorts to ‘gas diplomacy’ to browbeat Ukraine and other nearby states."
However, Poundland has taken exception to the use of its name in what it calls "le snobisme".
The high street retailer tweeted 'un message pour' Lord Hannan, saying he "should know better than "using the Poundland name "pejoratively".
Sending "love and kisses", Poundland said: "Monsieur Hannan, while I'm sure you think its tres amusant to describe the French President as a 'Poundland Putin' in this morning's Daily Mail, I have to tell you that our 18,000 colleague are probably choking on our croissants this morning.
"We don't do politics at Poundland, we leave that ex-politicians such as you, but we do call out le snobisme when we see it.
"Maybe Lord Hannan you've never been in a Poundland. Maybe that's just a little too desagreable for an Oriel College alumnus.
"But I have to tell you that our Lovely people get more than a little enerve when they see those who should know better belittle them by using the name Poundland pejoratively.
"Perhaps Lord Hannan you could reflect on why they think your use of that phrase may say more about you than them.
"In any event, we we won't be sending gunboats around."
