J D Wetherspoon boss: “The negative undertone of no-deal is an illusion”

The chairman of J D Wetherspoon has criticised the portrayal of Brexit as a ‘highly misleading dichotomy’ between a ‘no-deal’ and a ‘deal’.

Pub chain J D Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin accused the media, politics and business of presenting the options as opposites, saying: “The term no-deal really means ‘multi-deal’ - a multitude of deals agreed between individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations.”

Mr Martin, who has been an outspoken supporter of Brexit throughout the process, made the comments in the firm’s pre-close trading statement, which reported that J D Wetherspoon like-for-like sales had increased by 6.9 per cent in the 10 weeks up to 7 July.

According to Mr Martin, the firm has already made arrangements to replace French champagne and brandy, and German beer, with alternatives from the UK, Australia and America in anticipation of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr Martin added: “The real issue for the UK relates to the desirability of an overarching mono-deal, governing all aspects of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, as envisaged in Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.

“The negative undertone of no-deal is an illusion.

“The multi-deal approach, which immediately allows the UK to trade freely with the rest of the world, is a better alternative.”

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