Business in pubs will soar if we Brexit on October 31, claims Wetherspoon boss

Tim Martin appears on TV. Photograph: GMB/ITV. - Credit: Archant

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said pubs will benefit if the UK leaves the EU – with or without a deal – on October 31st.

The prominent and outspoken Brexit campaigner brushed aside fears over plunging consumer spending in the event of a no-deal Brexit and said Britons would instead come flocking to his pubs to celebrate.

Speaking to PA news agency, he said: “I think sales will jump dramatically in our pubs if we leave the EU – even if we leave the EU without a deal on October 31.

“People will be so pleased that we’ve left and I think even people who don’t want to leave will think ‘thank god we’ve left and can talk about something else’.”

Martin insisted there would be no hit to sales if the UK quit the EU without a deal on October 31.

He claimed: “People will be break-dancing in the streets.”

He added: “It will make the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977 look like a vicar’s tea party.”

Wetherspoon has slashed 20p off the cost of a pint of beer last week in nearly 700 of its pubs, calling it an example of how leaving the customs union with the EU can reduce prices.