Wetherspoons boss: Organisations warning against Brexit need to take a “wise-up pill”

The chairman of pub chain Wetherspoons has hit out at organisations who warn of ‘dire consequences’ as a result of Brexit.

In the firm’s Q2 trading update, Tim Martin criticised what he called ‘pro-remain’ organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).

The comments come as the firm reports a 4.7 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in the first 12 weeks of the quarter to January 19.

Tim commented: “It is disappointing to note that pro-remain organisations like the CBI and the Food and Drink Federation are, even at this late stage, doubling down on ‘project fear’ stories..

“The CBI’s warnings about job losses and recession in the event of a leave vote in 2016 have proved to be mythical - over a million jobs have been created.

“The FDF’s warnings about food price rises are absurd- the EU is a highly protectionist organisation which imposes tariffs and quotas on about 13,000 non-EU imports including many food and drink products such as bananas, rice, oranges, coffee and wine.

He added: “It is high time these organisations took a wise-up pill and supported the democratic decisions of the UK.”

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