The founder of Wetherspoons has thrown his support behind Nigel Farage after his plan to save British pubs was unveiled.
Speaking to GB News, Tim Martin said the support package makes “good economic sense” and will give publicans “tax equality” with supermarkets.
The Reform UK leader’s five-point plan, set to be announced on Tuesday, includes a £3billion tax relief package designed to rescue Britain’s struggling pub industry.
Mr Farage’s plan proposes slashing beer duty by ten per cent from its current rate of 49p, with patrons seeing around 5p knocked off the cost of their pint.
Delivering his verdict on the policy, Mr Martin told GB News: “It certainly is enough from what I’ve read, it’s more or less giving us tax equality with supermarkets, which is what I’ve campaigned for, and a lot of people within the hospitality industry have as well.
“And I think it makes good economic sense, it’ll pay for itself in a in a year or two and it will create jobs and it will help to preserve pubs.”
He added: “At the end of the day, if you give supermarkets a tax advantage over pubs, which is what they’ve had for many decades, they will begin to take over, and that’s what’s happened in the pub world.”
Highlighting the main issue affecting publicans following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget, the Wetherspoons founder explained: “The main thing is VAT, so at the moment the food is a substantial part of pub trade and pubs pay 20 per cent VAT, and supermarkets pay nothing, so that accounts for the biggest percentage of tax.
Tim Martin has backed Nigel Farage’s plan to save British pubs
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GB NEWS / GETTY
“I’ve campaigned for equality, which is zero tax on food – what Reform are proposing is 10 per cent, half the normal VAT, on food and beer, which amounts to pretty well the same thing.
“That’s pretty near what the pub industry has been asking for, and will be a terrific shot in the arm for publicans, once they can get their mind around the maths.”
Questioned by host Miriam Cates on whether he believes the measures will be enough to “tempt people back to the pubs”, Mr Martin told GB News: “I think people like pubs, people like going out and they will go out if the differential in price between a pint in a supermarket and a pint in a pub is reduced.
“And what Reform is doing is levelling the tax field, which will enable publicans to give customers what they want. £6 is a lot for a pint when it’s £1.50 in the supermarket.”
The Reform leader’s five-point plan, announced on Monday, proposes slashing beer duty by ten per cent | GETTY
He predicted: “It will be reduced substantially if there’s a level tax playing playing field, and that’ll be good for the historic role of pubs, which wasn’t that you only go out on a birthday party once a month, it was the place where you’d go for a pint.
“That’s what made the UK and Ireland different from a lot of other countries, people did their socialising in a pub in their village or their town or their suburbs.”
Questioned by host Andrew Pierce on how he has managed to keep his pub chain so successful in light of Labour’s tax hikes, Mr Martin joked: “Sheer talent!”
He said: “We’re back in the trend to an extent, but we too have been hit by high taxes. So although we’re doing pretty well, our profits are still lower than they were pre-pandemic. So yeah, all boasting aside, we’re doing well.”
Mr Martin told GB News joked that it is down to ‘sheer talent’ that the Wetherspoons chain remains successful
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GB NEWS
Celebrating the support plan, Bath publican Rod Humphries told the People’s Channel: “Reform are all very welcome in my pub. Frankly, they’re all practically useful, and also, they send a message that pubs are valuable.
“We feel genuinely beleaguered. We feel under pressure and undervalued, so that alone is really good.”
Offering a direct plea to Mr Farage, the publican asked the Reform UK leader: “If I’m allowed, can I say to Nigel, could he have a look at the minimum wage as well? Because that’s a big problem for us.
“What a lot of people don’t know is we have structures within our businesses, there are gaps. People who take more responsibility get paid more. When you push up the bottom, you push everything up because you have to maintain the gap.
“So an increase in the minimum wage can actually have massive knock-on effects for the rest of our staff, it’s a forced pay rise effectively for everybody in the business which can be absolutely appalling.”