Martin writes to MPs on poor decision-making

Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin has written to all MPs, alleging poor decision-making by the government in its Covid-19 policies.

Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin has written to all MPs, alleging poor decision-making by the government in its Covid-19 policies.

The letter enclosed an online edition of Wetherspoon News, including articles by a range of commentators querying government policies.

“It is a fallacy that pubs will reopen on Wednesday 2 December,” says Martin (pictured). “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 three will be physically shut from 2 December and pubs in tier two, if they open at all, will be trading as restaurants, not pubs. There are only a tiny number of pubs in tier one – and in those you can’t even order at the bar.”

Martin decided to write to all MPs on Friday 27 November because he believes the government is making reckless decisions. With MPs only having an occasional opportunity to intervene, the Wetherspoon’s boss wrote to them before their vote on the tiers in parliament on Tuesday.

“I am hopeful that MPs will see that the government is embarking on economically ruinous policies. Pubs have invested tens of millions of pound to make them safe, in accordance with regulations devised by the government, local authorities and health officials. The test and trace results show that there has been very little transfer of the virus in pubs and restaurants.”