Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin blasts “reckless” government

OUTSPOKEN pubs boss Tim Martin is on the offensive again, blasting MPs for their treatment of the trade just as Britain prepares to come out of its second lockdown.

The JD Wetherspoon founder and chairman says “reckless decisions” over Covid-19 have hurt pubs.

In a letter to all MPs he writes: “It is a fallacy that pubs will reopen on Wednesday 2 December. The government has effectively closed all pubs in England, by stealth- possibly for the first time in history.

“A pub licence, unlike a restaurant licence, allows you to sell beer, wine and spirits “for consumption on the premises”, without a table meal- and this is now prohibited.

“The reality is that pubs in tier 3 will be physically shut from 2 December and pubs in tier 2, if they open at all, will be trading as restaurants , not pubs. There are only a tiny number of pubs in tier 1- and in those you can’t even order at the bar.”

Martin, a Brexit supporter and critic of many government policies, added: ““I decided to write to all MPs on Friday, because the government is making reckless decisions, using emergency powers, and MPs only have an occasional opportunity to intervene- there will be a vote in Parliament on Tuesday.

“There is overwhelming scientific evidence that lockdowns and quasi-lockdowns can be counterproductive, as the World Health Organisation has recently emphasised.

“The government has spent around £350 billion on lockdowns so far - around three times what is spent annually on the health service. That expenditure will continue at about £6 billion a week for the indefinite future.”