Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin says he is concerned about Labour’s plans for the economy
Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin said today that he is concerned about the Labour Party’s plans for the economy.
“I’m worried by [Jeremy] Corbyn and [John] McDonnell’s plans. Wetherspoon has thrived in a free market economy under Conservative and Labour governments and the current Labour leadership prefers state ownership and control,” he told City PM
A Labour Party spokesperson hit back, saying: “Labour’s modern public ownership plans are popular with the public and will end decades of privatisation disasters under the Tories.
Read more: Wetherspoons heads to the bar for £200m splurge on 10,000 new jobs
“We won’t be taking any lectures from employers who won’t even pay their staff a living wage.”
Wetherspoon’s today announced plans to spend £200m on its pub estate over the next four years creating up to 10,000 new jobs.
The company said the majority of its investment would be focused on small and medium sized towns, but will also include larger towns and cities.
Martin said the targeting of small towns, which have been the subject of a great deal of political wrangling since the 2016 referendum, was not related to Brexit.
The keen Brexit advocate said: “Wetherspoon started in suburban London and it took 13 years to open in a city centre. But now we are represented in most big cities. Today there are more small towns in which we are unrepresented than large cities.”
Read more: Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin slams ‘elite Remainers’ as profit sinks
Martin said the pub group’s investment plan “signals confidence in the economy” and also said he thought Brexit would help the UK economically.
“Democracy and prosperity are closely linked and the EU is increasingly undemocratic- so leaving will be a plus,” he said.
Martin said that a no-deal Brexit would be his preferred option, but said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deal was better than staying in the EU.
“I prefer a no-deal Brexit which would save £39bn, regain control of fishing and allow us to end tariffs on over 12,000 non EU imports, including bananas, Aussie wine and children’s clothes. Boris’s deal is better than staying in the protectionist EU, but not as good as no deal,” he said.
In its results for the year to 28 July, pre-tax profit fell 4.5 per cent to £102.5m, with revenue up 7.4 per cent to £1.8bn.