Will Hutton, a hack who has bored on about Europe for decades, has tweeted a call for a boycott of the Wetherspoons chain of pubs until founder Tim Martin “apologises” for supporting Brexit:

I stopped using Wetherspoons as a private, personal protest about its support for Brexit lies back in 2016. Not a privation as I rarely drank there! Thought few others did the same. Maybe I’m wrong. Let’s boycott Wetherspoons until chair Tim Martin publicly says sorry.I was wrong pic.twitter.com/XyP9TBtXRf

— Will Hutton (@williamnhutton) August 9, 2023

In truth, remainers have been looking down their noses at the great British pub chain since before 2016 as they prefer to sip tepid Pinot Grigio from Waitrose. The boycott by gloomster centrists means that you can be guaranteed to avoid pub bores going on about phytosanitary certification issues and the difficulties of owning a holiday home in Provence. This unanticipated benefit of Brexit for Wetherspoons customers may in part explain the why the pubs are booming.

With Wetherspoons shares up 44% this year, and good value beer prices in these cost conscious times, Tim Martin has nothing to be sorry about. Cheers!

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…

Furious Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has accused the Telegraph of writing a “false story” about him in today’s paper, in which they claim he has changed his position on immigration in response to staff shortages across his pub chains. The Telegraph also say he now proposes a visa system that will make it easier for venues to hire European workers. Naturally Remainers have leapt on it, accusing Martin of being a Brexiteer Icarus… 

According to Martin, however, the whole thing is untrue:

“I was trying to be helpful to the journalist by providing up-to-date anecdotal information on staffing, which clearly demonstrated a very positive situation for Wetherspoon. However, my comments were misreported. The false story, expressed in the headline “Wetherspoons boss calls for more EU migration as bars and restaurants tackle staff shortage” and expressed or implied elsewhere in the article, was that Wetherspoon was suffering staff shortages, which clearly isn’t true, and that I had subsequently been moved to change my stance on immigration, which, as my evidence to the parliament several ago clearly shows, isn’t true either.”

Guido recommends Tim has a pint and waits for all this to blow over…

Pubs are re-opening for table service on July 4 and that presents some problems. How to order in compliance with the social distancing rules? Wetherspoons has an app for that…

Guido and his team have stress-tested this app and can confirm it works, it directs pints and full English breakfasts to your table and handles payments as well. The guidance from the government requires drinkers’ attendance to be registered in case there is a subsequent outbreak. Using this app will automatically record your attendance at a ‘Spoons. Other functions include a reorder function for rounds when in a group. Distancing rules may unfortunately require the room booking function to be disabled. Co-conspirators in SW1 will find the search function handy to find their nearest ‘Spoons is… 

You can download the app here. 

*No payment has been received for this endorsement, if however Wetherspoons’ marketing department should want to show their appreciation, please do not hesitate to contact Guido. We are happy to accept payment in kind…

Yesterday’s announcement by Boris declaring a partial unlocking for England on July 4, was met with overwhelming support from the public, a snap YouGov poll showing the plans have 64% public support versus 29% opposition. The left upon hearing the good news launched an internal debate over whether to boycott Wetherspoons upon its re-opening. Complete with #Neverspoons hashtag.

Hundreds of lefties on Twitter called on people to boycott the change in favour of pubs that “aren’t run by a far-right lunatic”. Tim Martin and 52% of the public only seem far to your right if you are on the far-left…

The boycott-happy left missed one crucial endorsement, however – actual Wetherspoon employees. The official “SpoonStrike” account – amplified by Owen Jones – asked their 5,000 followers not to boycott the chain, as it will result in “hours cuts and loss of earnings”.

Not good enough reasons for the righteous left, who are now accusing Spoons employees and Owen Jones of “Stockholm syndrome”, saying they refuse to give Tim Martin their money and comparing it to “like don’t boycott South Africa during apartheid because the poor will suffer most.” Quite. Sorry Wetherspoons workers, for the wokerati ideological purity will always come before your livelihoods…