“Brexiter Tim Spoons wants to cut child benefits so someone can save £1 if they drink 20 pints in one of his pubs…”
Tim Martin, the Wetherspoons founder and ardent Brexiteer, has been mocked online after calling on the hospitality industry to throw its weight behind Reform UK.
Martin’s intervention follows the party’s unveiling of a package of proposals it claims would rescue Britain’s struggling pubs. The measures include a 10 percent cut in VAT for hospitality businesses, a 10 percent reduction in beer duty, a reversal of recent increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions, and the gradual abolition of business rates for all pubs.
Reform estimates the total cost of the package at £3 billion and says it would be funded by reinstating the two-child benefit cap.
This week, the Wetherspoons’ chairman enthusiastically endorsed the proposals, arguing they would “transform the competitiveness of pubs.”
He said eliminating what he sees as an unfair tax advantage enjoyed by supermarkets would allow pubs to claw back lost trade and restore margins “devastated” in recent years.
“By eliminating the tax differential between supermarkets and the hospitality industry, and restoring margins to devastated businesses, these changes would enable pubs to regain some, or all, of their lost trade,” he said.
He also expressed surprise, and apparent frustration, at what he described as the muted response from the wider hospitality sector.
“You would think that this offer from Reform would have been greeted by a crescendo of enthusiasm, ecstasy and support from the licensed trade and its supporters.
“However, surprisingly, initial support has been underwhelming, at least from the great and the good in the hospitality industry,” he said.
Martin’s comments come just weeks after the government announced fresh business rates relief for hospitality venues. From April, pubs and live music venues in England will receive a 15 percent discount on business rates, a move expected to deliver an £80 million annual boost to the sector over the next three years. The announcement followed warnings that changes outlined in the Autumn Budget could force pubs and other hospitality businesses to close.
Online reaction to Martin’s call for support, however, was scathing.
“Brexiter Tim Spoons wants to cut child benefits so someone can save £1 if they drink 20 pints in one of his pubs…,” wrote campaign group Leeds for Europe.
Others questioned whether customers would ever see the benefit of lower taxes.
“What’s the betting that prices won’t go down? He’ll just pocket the profit,” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “This guy is excellent at convincing me never to enter one of his pubs, just like one of my locals which has GB ‘non-news’ streaming constantly.”
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