The media made plenty of noise last week over the alleged ‘beer shortage’ at Wetherspoons. Both the Independent and the Mirror leapt at the chance to say the chain had “run dry“, with the Mirror then landing its killer blow by insisting this was all “caused by Brexit“. Naturally.

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has now pushed back to say these claims are all untrue. The reality is that beer supplies actually remain at 2019 (i.e. pre-pandemic) levels, and that the shortage of a few products over the last two weeks is the result of strike action from one major brewer. Martin added:

“There is clearly a shortage of HGV drivers, both in the UK and in mainland Europe- where, some reports say, there is a shortage of 400,000 drivers. Following the pandemic, there are supply chain issues in many other parts of the world also. In the light of the undoubted problems, it is important that the public is provided with accurate information. Factual inaccuracies and partisan Brexit politics will not assist in finding solutions.”

France, Germany, and Spain are all experiencing an HGV shortage at the moment. Probably down to Brexit too, somehow…