Wetherspoons calls for pubs to reopen 'to save jobs'
15/02/2021
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The chairman of the chain is calling for pubs to reopen at the same time as non-essential shops.
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NotLegalTender
15/02/2021 09:51:50
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bbc
Nope, it'd be too much, too soon. As much as I want to get back down the pub (a proper pub, mind, not a 'Spoons), I'm prepared to wait. Let's open schools first and see how that goes.
In many towns Wetherspoons IS the only proper pub! Because Tim Martin has saved many from closure, he is a great hero to many. But you keep drinking your overpriced craft 'beer' that is full of chemicals, and the sensible among us will keep buying the excellent value and quality ales at our local Wetherspoons.
Agreed, when SAGE (not Bozo) says it's safe to do so, as nobody can trust the chief clown in my opinion!
I wish people would stop looking down their noses at Wetherspoons and other cheaper pubs. And those who go to them. And those who are not rich and wouldn't be able to go to the pub much if they had to pay £5 plus for a pint of beer.
I for one am grateful that there is a Wetherspoons near my house, which myself and my friends can afford to use.
I for one am grateful that there is a Wetherspoons near my house, which myself and my friends can afford to use.
Schools re-opening without proper controls is the problem; many more will die and many more businesses will fail. The school strategy or lack of, is one of the current dumb tory government biggest failings (and lets be honest they have notched up quite a number).
Proper pub? Do you mean one owned by a different brewery chain and charging at least twice as much for a far more limited range of beer? Or do you by any perchance go out of your way to find one of the extraordinarily rare unchained freehouses? You know, the 1 in 1000 pubs? I can understand snobbery, but its more often stupidity than anything else.
Prepared to wait? until when ? 2030? 2050? when? We will be dead before this is over.
Let's get all the MPs back in parliament first and lead by example, and stop using the children as Guinea pigs.
I thought Tim said his staff should go and get a job at Tesco?
He's a massive hypocrite, with only one interest in life :
the enrichment of Tim Martin.
the enrichment of Tim Martin.
And the same one who put anti-lockdown posters up in his pub windows that were all still there until the middle of January when Covid was at peak killing ~1500 a day.
I think I'll take my trade to a local independent once the pubs do reopen
I think I'll take my trade to a local independent once the pubs do reopen
He suggested that with the ongoing closures they might want to look for alternative employment. Which is better than just giving them a sudden redundancy notice and demonstrates that he does have their interests at heart.
He did, on the 24th March 2020.
He suggested that if the furlough money wasn't enough they could get a job at Tesco and they'd be the first people he'd rehire when things open up. It's all on the video to see.
This comment was massively taken out of context and misreported for a headline scoop;
He actually said he would "understand" if employees offered jobs by supermarkets, as at the time their was reports the furlough payment would be delayed.
He also said he would welcome these employees back as soon as they re-opened.
He actually said he would "understand" if employees offered jobs by supermarkets, as at the time their was reports the furlough payment would be delayed.
He also said he would welcome these employees back as soon as they re-opened.
no he did not, stop misquoting, he said they could work at Tesco and then work in his pubs when they reopened
He said that if the 80% furlough money wasn't enough, then staff could find alternative temporary employment so they weren't out of pocket, and their jobs would be there when pubs re-opened
No you remoaners who just love to hate him always misquote him to suit your hate filled agenda
There was no 'should' about it.
His exact words
He said: “If you’re offered a job… if you think it’s a good idea, do it.”
There was no 'should' about it.
His exact words
He said: “If you’re offered a job… if you think it’s a good idea, do it.”
So much vitriol against Mr Martin, and all because he doesn't share your politics. Pathetic.
What staff do not go in as you could die of thirst waiting to be served. Only interested in money
Pubs are Super spreaders, keep them closed.
Where is the evidence of that, pubs where barely open for the last year and more so from November yet cases and deaths still increased? Just anti drink/social bias for no good reason.
Difficult to prove that given in large parts of the country pubs have been closed since October, in some places much longer. The recent increase in Covid infections took place despite pubs being closed. Education if anything seems to be super spreaders as since it has been closed infections have fallen
No. Schools are the main spreading hubs, and all school doors should be welded shut till the autumn.
You just made that up because you have no pals and don’t get to go to the pub anyway.
So are hospitals. Is that why the closed the NHS? As my 90++ old uncle said on hearing lock-down was to save the NHS. "We created it to save us, not for us to save it."
Supermarkets are worse - keep them closed - oh hang on....
While I am absolutely desperate to get back into the pub (and restaurants & cafes) We cannot act in haste, let’s do it properly when the data tell us the risk is acceptable and manageable.
Yep, the only people vaccinated so far are people who do not go to pubs, gigs or football or work in the high street, hospitality, etc. Oh, that's right, for those who do these things the risk of death from covid is lower than car accidents.
The data tells you? Have you watched the Kieslowski's Dekalog? "You shall not have other gods before me" ? There is a story of a dad - scientist who follows the data.
Data?
Science only goes as far and then comes God.
I trust my God more .
Data?
Science only goes as far and then comes God.
I trust my God more .
It’s not acting in haste though? By April, all of the vulnerable will be vaccinated and all over 50’s. so why on earth are we still to be under house arrest?
When pubs reopened the majority were run with military precision, Track & Trace info taken, one way systems, no queueing at the bar, only one person in toilets at a time and no standing around, all seated. Covid transmission was attributed to less than 3% of infections. I felt safer in our local than I do in Tesco.
Whilst I think pubs have been victimised by the measures, we should all be doing what we can to ensure we don't go through all of this again. The fact that people are STILL having house parties and suchlike suggests that we as a people have not learnt though - and that is why easing should be delayed.
You might want to give this website a look.
https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
Wetherspoons the company that was not going to pay its staff or suppliers at the beginning of lockdown 2020?
Tricky decision for authorities and government. Pints or lives or livelihoods.
Tricky decision for authorities and government. Pints or lives or livelihoods.
If the hospitality and aviation sectors go under it will cost millions of livelihoods and put the country into a severe recession which will ultimate impact on all of us, through lower pensions and reduced public spending
Got to protect the bottom line.
Hoards in Primark, M&S and other large retail stores, yet a moderated number in pubs and bars.....which is worse? Drinking does not make you instantly stupid, so if the establishment is following the rules then there is no reason to delay if other retail can open. Seems like its a punishment for no reason otherwise.
Not sure where these hoards are. It is a ghost town here, with most retail closed. M&S which sells food is open but hardly crowded, Primark is closed, Tesco is open with restricted, (supervised) numbers. Agreed that drinking does not make you instantly stupid, that takes a few pints.
The problem will be that as soon as the Pubs are open again people will go beserk, no social distancing etc. I am afraid we have seen the silly behavoiur before, peope in crowds and the idiots chanting their silly football songs. They will open when it safe to do so, or the only people allowed in pubs if they can prove they have had the "jab"
I tend to agree with you. Most people now go to pubs to eat and have a modest number of drinks so most pubs aren’t significantly different from restaurants. It’s only in the centre of towns and cities where you still find the traditional pubs just serving alcohol
I’ve not been through eleven months of restrictions all to be undone by the Spooners discussing their ‘win’ (think EU)....
Let the science decide now.
Let the science decide now.
He backed a winner with Brexi t ,didn't he !
Oh dear, you had to bring the EU into it. Get over leaving the EU it's done, we aren't going back anytime soon regardless of your desire to do so. You are just damaging your mental health torturing yourself that you didn't get your own way.
I think the resultant natural selection would qualify as science deciding...
15million vaccinated already.... and if we were still in the EU, how many would that be now?.....
The science does not decide.. Politician decide.. Science recommends.
Im with you on this Ive been lock down for the same 11 months We have just managed to vacc the first 4 groups Now for the next 5 groups and the second vacc on the first 4 groups
If the pubs are still there in the summer for those that need them ok but not until
If the pubs are still there in the summer for those that need them ok but not until
Science doesn't decide anything. It is used by politicians to support their approach. Science tells us that there are too many people on the planet....
There it is the Brexit card. Fair play at least you dont disguise your contempt for Weatherspoons and the working class
Pubs are Super spreaders, keep them closed.
So they would have increased more if pubs were open for all the obvious reasons. Or can you wear a mask and drink beer at the same time while shouting over the noise?
When people get together in groups the virus will spread more rapidly. Is that a hard concept to grasp or are you too addled??
The Covid Cult don't do data, too inconvenient. They just think "Why should those healthy, immune youngsters have a life when I'm so terrified I won't go out of doors?" Then scream 'lock them down, they're covid deniers, stop then killing people' A more despicable and holier than thou bunch I can't imagine, they are the new Puritans, and infinitely worse than the old ones.
You don't need evidence, when you have guaranteed logic. People who go to the pub drink alcohol, therefore people who travel to the pubs will therefore put pressure on public transport, therefore creating unmanageable distancing in wider society.
Big surprise.
We had them on about doing Eat Out To Spread About again.
That was a waste of £850,000,000.
They have had furlough
Business Rates
VAT reduction
£1,000? per employee in January for nothing.
Question is has Kermit and the Gang learnt their lessons yet.
How many times are we going to repeat the same mistakes.
We had them on about doing Eat Out To Spread About again.
That was a waste of £850,000,000.
They have had furlough
Business Rates
VAT reduction
£1,000? per employee in January for nothing.
Question is has Kermit and the Gang learnt their lessons yet.
How many times are we going to repeat the same mistakes.
Who do you mean by Kermit and the Gang?
I have not seen one piece of evidence to suggest that Eat out to help out scheme increased the spread of the virus....not sure why everyone was so against it? Every eatery I went to during this period followed all guidance to the letter and I never once felt unsafe or exposed to any unnecessary risk. It provided a vital lifeline to many businesses at the time!!
I think the £1k per employee was scrapped once it became apparent that lockdowns would continue into 2021
Eat Out in August at least had outdoors seating in many venues in nice weather. I don't see that working in March or April. A lot of restaurants are quite cramped, ideal Covid spreading environments especially with the recent strain. However Wetherspoons has air conditioning, and large venues (due to taking over other types of building), so maybe they will try to get only themselves opened up!
Do you have evidence that Eat Out to Help Out was a waste of £850,000,000? The idea was to encourage people to eat out in restaurants with sufficient covid precautions in order to help those businesses keep going.
I've not seen any evidence that it increased infections at all. The rise in cases cane in September when the new variant coincided with schools reopening.
I've not seen any evidence that it increased infections at all. The rise in cases cane in September when the new variant coincided with schools reopening.
''but, but we like to stay in a hole and never come out.''
Watch how they get into one on here today.
Watch how they get into one on here today.
You want to come out of the hole?
Then respect the restrictions!
But I suppose Homo Pathetic loads its credit card with debt because it can't resist spending; try to explain to such a creature that sometimes in life we have to wait for things, or to wade through ssit to get to the other side...
Then respect the restrictions!
But I suppose Homo Pathetic loads its credit card with debt because it can't resist spending; try to explain to such a creature that sometimes in life we have to wait for things, or to wade through ssit to get to the other side...
I would rather wait as long as we have to and stay in lockdown as long as it will be the last one (within reason). Can't deal with the stop start lockdowns anymore and opening up too early just to please a minority. If opening up some parts of society too early is just going to drag this out longer then it is a bad idea.
It’s easy to say that when you aren’t significantly impacted as many are. Many pensioners with protected pensions haven’t been hit financially, and many working from home are better off, but large sections of the population are suffering severely financially particularly the young, who have little chance of finding employment
How does the rest of your life sound? Because this virus is going nowhere!!!
We have never had to go back into lockdown because we opened up too early. In the first lockdown, if anything it was eased too late and easing it did not lead to a rise in cases at all - that only happened in Autumn as temperatures dropped.
In December, it's the impact of a new variant, a bottleneck of Christmas shopping caused by the lockdown and temperature again.
In December, it's the impact of a new variant, a bottleneck of Christmas shopping caused by the lockdown and temperature again.
Lockdown is a cake walk, no issue with doing nothing and watching Netfix all day. Not like we are being bombed daily like Siria, or having to go out and fight. All we need to do is wait not the hardest thing to do.
With over 3 billion people employed in hospitality it is essential to get the sector open at the earliest opportunity.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
Nearly half the world's population employed in hospitality? I think you may be overestimating!
With over 3 billion people employed in hospitality. Incidentally the numbers hospitalised with COVID is still above the April peak.
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
He gets to opine for the same reason you get to opine - it's a free country.
Business, of all sorts, always does champion self interest issues. It doesn't make him wrong.
Arguing for your own self interest is what people do.
Democracy is a way of working out what a majority think is in their self interest.
Democracy is a way of working out what a majority think is in their self interest.
A man that has achieved thousands of times more than you ever have or will, we tend to listen to people like that, rather than online nobodies.
"People drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid". Evidence for this? There isn't any. It's a snobby, holier-than-thou, class based restriction that makes the petrified middle classes congratulate themselves on how caring they are while not affecting their pampered lives one iota.
Because he is a prominent brexiter.
Farage appeared on QT 35 times, several times more often than any other politician.
Farage appeared on QT 35 times, several times more often than any other politician.
The lockdown zealots' only interest is themselves too, they don't care about pubs going bust, pub staff losing their jobs, millions of younger people (under 50) who are under house arrest unable to go out and socialise, who are at almost zero risk from harm even if they catch the virus.
Farage elevated him to be some sort of spokesperson during the brexit campaign so now he gets to comment on everything as if we care.
This is a public health issue so he should keep out of it
This is a public health issue so he should keep out of it
He talks sense and has a right to opine. Years ago he said that people like Jamie Oliver, TRG etc were deliberately over-paying on rents for good locations & warned that they would fail & affect the high street. JDW isn't just about selling booze - biggest curry house chain, biggest steak house chain, 4th biggest coffee chain etc. 40,000 employees plus suppliers & small breweries etc rely on them.
No its not and there is no evidence to sport that.. Even the Chancellor clearly stated at Christmas there was absolutely no evidence to support that, same as schools and shops...No Evidence just panic and rhetoric from panicked and controlling scientists and a weakling PM and respective FMs...Too many people were frightened into be utterly and unnecessaryily compliant..
'...people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.'
I found pubs to be incredibly safe while they were allowed to be open last year. Far safer than a supermarket, public transport or even walking down the road. Clean, social distancing observed, table service and good PPE.
They have been made scapegoats and should be allowed to open again, with restrictions, as soon as possible.
I found pubs to be incredibly safe while they were allowed to be open last year. Far safer than a supermarket, public transport or even walking down the road. Clean, social distancing observed, table service and good PPE.
They have been made scapegoats and should be allowed to open again, with restrictions, as soon as possible.
All pubs are not the same. There are quiet, well spaced places where people sit at tables eating meals and all covid rules are obeyed. Then there are other bars that have have people closely standing around, spilling out onto the street while drinking to oblivion.
When things do start to open careful consideration needs to be given to this
When things do start to open careful consideration needs to be given to this
Tim needs to think it thru. Open pubs, keep jobs, make money for Tim - spread the virus, make people sick and kill a percentage off which ultimately reduces sales, reduces profits ( and money for Tim) and causes pubs to shut as not profitable.
Typical BBC bias. They promote any Quitter and their nonsense
Am really not bothered now about pubs opening, I cant believe an actually saying this. But since they have been closed, I feel better for it and see how much money these places are actually taking and the profit they make. I can shop at a local supermarket and normally get a case for £10 I would be lucky to get 3 bottles in a pub..
Much harder to pull some fresh when sitting at home on your tod.
If govt have done a good job then all pub workers should be fully furloughed and pubs should be given financial aid.
So no reason to open them until it is safe to do so later in the year.
So no reason to open them until it is safe to do so later in the year.
It confuses me, people are ok for the retail to open with just as much or maybe less regulation in stores than pubs, if they are run and regulated as everything has to be then there is no evidence they are any worse that a retail store. Madness to continue to watch all hospitality like this die.
Wetherspoons should be open for a Great Full English Breakfast and Ale by middle of March and we should dispense with the Face Muzzles and social isolation by then, most people likely to be serious ill would have been vaccinated by then and we need to open the Economy and get our life back
Yeah! As long as grandad can go and have his 'full Engllish' and a pint for breakfast, who gives a * about the youngsters eh?
I mean they only get a little bit ill don't they.....
{ps "the vaccine doesn't prevent coronavirus infection. It helps protect against serious illnesses"}
I mean they only get a little bit ill don't they.....
{ps "the vaccine doesn't prevent coronavirus infection. It helps protect against serious illnesses"}
I’d rather have the hospitals empty than the pubs full. Then they can treat all, of all ages for all illnesses.
Many require hospital treatment to recover from Covid.
Many require hospital treatment to recover from Covid.
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
It would not be a free country if lefties had their way! But fortunately the star of the left is waning rapidly. Tim Martin is a hero to many.
Yes, where ignorant bigots are free to be ignorant bigots. Makes you proud to be British eh?
Are you sure "it's a free country"? What evidence are you presenting?
That we are free to visit family and friends? Leave the country? Have people visit us? Free from censorship? Carry on trading? Essential travel only? Muzzle your airwaves? Closed schools, pubs, restaurants, gyms, shops, offices? Which "free country" are you living in?
That we are free to visit family and friends? Leave the country? Have people visit us? Free from censorship? Carry on trading? Essential travel only? Muzzle your airwaves? Closed schools, pubs, restaurants, gyms, shops, offices? Which "free country" are you living in?
Yes but when we opine we don't get our own headline on BBC News
Agree but he seems to get far to much BBC airtime regardless
You seem to lack any intelligence on your argument. The man is a selfish, self centred egoist, he had told his staff to work in Tesco. I think now that he is feeling the (economic) pinch, he wants the rules to be bent to suit his agenda. Pubs only help spread the virus. He and his staff can go fruit picking to help the economy.
but that doesn't mean it should get covered by media, he can shout out his window all he likes. BBC runs because headline is good, also shameful
gimmeshelter doesn't get to opine on the same place though, the front page of the BBC NEWS website.
You are correct, absolutely anyone is entitled to their own opinion, however idiotic it is
Non-essential shops can open before pubs because people will still have to wear face coverings for the whole duration of their visit and as a whole will only be on that premises for a short time. In a pub, once seated, masks are off and groups of people are sitting together in a room for an extended period of time. Not quite the same Tim Martin. Let's not rush things this time please.
Lets say you go Primark when it opens, a queue out the door, any number of people inside with kids in tow who don't have to wear masks at all. No enforced social distancing and potentially multiple people picking up single items with no guarantee for their sanitizing. A pub, has to have patrons sitting down all the time except for lav break. Numbers are regulated and no cross contamination.no kids
Face coverings do almost nothing. They've been politicised because they are the most visual measure but in comparison to hand hygiene or reducing social contacts they are almost irrelevant. Even worse they have the psychological effect of making the wearer feel invincible and so ignoring the guidance on hands and distance.
The groups of people in pubs are individual households only and all tables are at a socially distanced space. The layout and covid secure measures should also be agreed by licensing to ensure guidelines are enforceable. There is no social distancing in shops or supermarkets. Between a well managed pub and a free for all supermarket, I know which I'd feel safest in.
Not to mention that alcohol tends to impair judgement, such as what is safe to do in a pandemic.
All these anti public house assumptions, look at the evidence from over the summer, some of the least infection places were the pubs, where as supermarkets (where masks had to be worn and nobody was drunk) seemed to be pretty high. The assumption is that being in a pub everyone is drunk, just like assuming everyone in Primark is on benefits, neither is right. Each location has to prepare equally.
No need for masks or distancing once vaccine rolled out. Everything should re-open without restriction immediately. The virus presents no serious risk to the vast majority.
Why is the BBC giving air time to this moron?
Removed
The BBC gives airtime to lots of morons ... you can't escape morons
Because their Charter dictates that they must, hence HYS as well.
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Tim Martin is not a moron., He is infinitely more successful than you!
It is wrong to labelTim Martin as a moron because you do not agree with him. I am not a particular fan of Wetherspoons, but he does employ a lot of people and his pubs are popular. His company pays a lot of tax.
Why are they giving space to morons like you?
Removed
With over 3 billion people employed in hospitality it is essential to get the sector open at the earliest opportunity.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
Hoards in Primark, M&S and other large retail stores, yet a moderated number in pubs and bars.....which is worse? Drinking does not make you instantly stupid, so if the establishment is following the rules then there is no reason to delay if other retail can open. Seems like its a punishment for no reason otherwise.
I noticed hoards in Poundland yesterday. Yes, Poundland can open for some reason.
If Mr Wetherspoons is so concerned for jobs he can pay his staff out of the many millions of his fortune.
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
He looks after his staff reasonably well. How many people do you employ? How many jobs have you created?
Schools spread more virus than pubs!
Shame about all those other thousands of pubs and restaurants that aren't owned by Mr Martin, you'd like to see those go to the wall just to suit your anti-Martin agenda ?
And the same man who puts posters up outside his closed branches, here in Newcastle, undermining the lockdown. "Can't trust our leaders, because everyone is from Oxford and Cambridge and you can't trust lockdown, because everyone saying its good is from the elite"
It's nonsense , but some are not educated enough to know that.
It's nonsense , but some are not educated enough to know that.
Just like a footballer can pay for school children's lunches!
What a lot of very shameful, disgruntled and generally uncaring remarks.
Shame on you lot!
Shame on you lot!
Craft beers are good and varied,food is reasonable what is your problem,have you never been in a real pub,probably only plastic overpriced ones
Mr Wetherspoons has big plans for making a giant multi level pub here..
https://twitter.com/twickerati/status/1356533272315060226
https://twitter.com/twickerati/status/1356533272315060226
And he was right. There was and is no reason why why pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops are closed. Protect the vulnerable and allow society a free choice.
Hurry up, Harry!
Far greater priorities than opening pubs and restaurants too soon.
They are non essential services so should be a very low priority.
They are non essential services so should be a very low priority.
They are no less essential than most closed businesses and organisations.
But yet people were in non essential shops but not in pubs?
I could spend all day clothes, watch or furniture shopping but not go to the pub.
We've basically got to the point where it's essential, non essential, restaurants and cafes then last of all pubs. It's no surprise they're struggling.
I could spend all day clothes, watch or furniture shopping but not go to the pub.
We've basically got to the point where it's essential, non essential, restaurants and cafes then last of all pubs. It's no surprise they're struggling.
Bigger priorities than people’s jobs and businesses? Obviously you have had not been impacted by this (probably work in a bank), so who cares eh?
They are some people's livelihoods! You Covid Cultists are despicable, the data is there, for all to see yet you ignore it. Lock-down the young and immune to save the old and ill, & as the UN has pointed out, will kill more globally due to the economic disaster than Covid will kill. Lock-down the old & ill, let the young get on with their lives.
Why didn't we go into lockdown sooner?
Why haven't we come out of lockdown yet?
Why did we come out of lockdown too soon?
Rinse and repeat.
Why haven't we come out of lockdown yet?
Why did we come out of lockdown too soon?
Rinse and repeat.
Ah, a Keir Hindsight supporter. Enjoy permanently being in opposition! Covid is a complex situation, if I were you I'd leave it to the experts.
You speak like a reader of the Evening Chronicle
Why did we bother lock-down at all?
If govt have done a good job then all pub workers should be fully furloughed and pubs should be given financial aid.
So no reason to open them until it is safe to do so later in the year.
So no reason to open them until it is safe to do so later in the year.
In stores people are required to wear a mask all the time and stand 2 meters apart, thus reducing risk of covid transmission. In a pub, people must wear a mask when entering or moving around the space. But can sit in close proximity without masks, drink alcohol and lose one's capacity for judgement. Not wearing masks in an enclosed space in order to drink will carry more risk.
Yes, strange that everyone is addicted to food. When demand returns so will supply. that is how capitalism works.
Never saw anyone drunk, shouting out loudly, pushing past everyone, not social distancing and not wearing a mask when they are walking round in a supermarket. That’s the reason they are in lockdown. They cannot be trusted to enforce the rules.
Madness not to question the mortality data. ONS blithely lists the co-morbidities that are most common with 'Covid deaths' - they are the worst killers we've had, they even include Pneumonia as a 'co-morbidity'. It has killed the elderly from time immemorial & got the epithet 'The old man's friend' Why are so many so stupid & so ill informed in the 21st Century for goodness sake?
People aren't getting drunk amd losing their ability to social distance in retail stores. If pubs opened but only served non alcoholic drinks we'd be roughly on par woth risk.
No
I thought Tim said his staff should go and get a job at Tesco?
Unlike Boris the buffoon, only interest Boris.
Wouldn't call that hypocrisy if he's always been about profit over literally anything else, I'd call it on brand.
Retired or public sector is it?
But his only interest in life means he'll continue to provide 1000s of jobs in his pubs and also support 1000s of jobs in ins supply chain. There's nothing wrong with someone driven at the top of a business, there are thousands of people like him providing employment for millions and no one is on their backs!
But he does supply good beer at a good price and good cheap food.
Why is the BBC giving air time to this moron?
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Why is the BBC giving air time to this moron?
Removed
Mr. Martin should just be patient like the rest of us. He can always console himself with the thought that the ‘Brexit bounce’ will see his business go from strength to strength once coronation dealt with.
Brexit growth will be real.
Thank heaven for Brexit, God must be an Englishman to have ensured we were on our way out before covid struck. The consequences of lock-down are disastrous, add to that 'tourist economy' disasters in the EU & the UK is fortunate, we only have to bail ourselves out. The EU may not be able to bail out Southern EUrope.
https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/11/new-poverty-hits-europe?minutetv=true
https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/11/new-poverty-hits-europe?minutetv=true
Tim Martin very keen to get back to importing vast quantities of booze and exporting absolutely nothing.
Keeping him closed helps reduce our trade deficit so it's patriotic.
Keeping him closed helps reduce our trade deficit so it's patriotic.
Most of the breweries are in this country. Jobs in London and Burton Upon Trent.
Shows you know nothing about Tim Martin., Hew supports Britain through and through, mostly promotes English ales, not that nasty tasteless eurofizz rubbish.
Wetherspoons should be open for a Great Full English Breakfast and Ale by middle of March and we should dispense with the Face Muzzles and social isolation by then, most people likely to be serious ill would have been vaccinated by then and we need to open the Economy and get our life back
Wrong - it protects against infection - that's why infections are going down - rapidly..
Change the title to:-
"Reopen pubs to spread covid, so more people can die and brewers can return to making money"
"Reopen pubs to spread covid, so more people can die and brewers can return to making money"
Could we also say "non essential clothes shops and DIY shops were open before Christmas spreading covid so more people can die and businesses make money" then?
He's just a business person wanting to open his business
He's just a business person wanting to open his business
The alternative being that everyone lives in poverty because of an attempt to keep everyone alove forever.
That would be an even bigger lie than the covid mortality data.
Hoards in Primark, M&S and other large retail stores, yet a moderated number in pubs and bars.....which is worse? Drinking does not make you instantly stupid, so if the establishment is following the rules then there is no reason to delay if other retail can open. Seems like its a punishment for no reason otherwise.
The problem will be that as soon as the Pubs are open again people will go beserk, no social distancing etc. I am afraid we have seen the silly behavoiur before, peope in crowds and the idiots chanting their silly football songs. They will open when it safe to do so, or the only people allowed in pubs if they can prove they have had the "jab"
I did visit pubs fairly frequently from when they reopened in July to when they closed in November. What I saw was very well organized procedures and cleanliness regimes. I did not feel unsafe at all.
I did NOT see the behaviour you describe in any of the places I went to. Where have you been going?
I did NOT see the behaviour you describe in any of the places I went to. Where have you been going?
Sick of moany Remainers and lefties who hate their own country. Love the ERG and CRG.
The Great British Public have been subject to Face Muzzling for far too long, we need a normal life back and Pubs and Bars are an essential part of public life and socialising and feelgood, all Leisure centres and Gyms should be open by April
If The Great British Public had worn 'face muzzles' when supposed to, and stayed locked down when supposed to, we might not be in as serious a situation as we are now.
But it's all about you, isn't it?
But it's all about you, isn't it?
With over 3 billion people employed in hospitality it is essential to get the sector open at the earliest opportunity.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
This has to be done with caution to ensure we don't get a uplift in Covid cases but somehow it has to be done.
Provided infection rates and hospitalisations continue on a significant downward trend May would make sense.
He has a point, they do need to be reopened, but not when non essential shops are reopened. Hospitality has to be reopened as there are millions employed in the sector, it isn’t just pubs but hotels, restaurants, theatres, museums and cinemas. If these don’t open in the next three months the economic impact will be devastating. The country can’t keep running a deficit
You know something else if we don’t open hospitality our exports suffer, as every tourist in a UK hotel counts as an export.
Wetherspoons should be open for a Great Full English Breakfast and Ale by middle of March and we should dispense with the Face Muzzles and social isolation by then, most people likely to be serious ill would have been vaccinated by then and we need to open the Economy and get our life back
Shame that the EU cant help bail you out eh Tim? Shoulda thought of that before you picked a loser!
Not a single French cafe has gone into receivership due to lots of free money from the EU.
Was he a Remainer?
Why is the BBC giving air time to this moron?
Removed
Am really not bothered now about pubs opening, I cant believe an actually saying this. But since they have been closed, I feel better for it and see how much money these places are actually taking and the profit they make. I can shop at a local supermarket and normally get a case for £10 I would be lucky to get 3 bottles in a pub..
Lock down is more likely to create alcoholics. Moderate drinkers go to the pub, problem drinkers usually consume alone at home.
which is what most alcies do anyway.
Non-essential shops can open before pubs because people will still have to wear face coverings for the whole duration of their visit and as a whole will only be on that premises for a short time. In a pub, once seated, masks are off and groups of people are sitting together in a room for an extended period of time. Not quite the same Tim Martin. Let's not rush things this time please.
Lets say you go Primark when it opens, a queue out the door, any number of people inside with kids in tow who don't have to wear masks at all. No enforced social distancing and potentially multiple people picking up single items with no guarantee for their sanitizing. A pub, has to have patrons sitting down all the time except for lav break. Numbers are regulated and no cross contamination.no kids
All goes to pot after five or six pints though duck what about dentist surely they have to get the NHS ones open it's a joke you have to pay for private treatment
exactly what I was about to say Mark. Let's open pubs and hospitality BEFORE non-essential shops, proof will be when there isn't any change because venues, staff and customers respect the situation. I have a Wetherspoons locally and it was well managed and controlled - yes, in the summer there were the odd idiots but they were soon reprimanded or asked to leave.
Absolutely right, most pubs and restaurants when to extraordinary lengths and costs to provide a safe, tracked environment then were hung out to dry whereas retail was allowed to be a viral spreading free for all.
The model for opening should be similar to food hygiene; if you can prove to an inspector you have provided a safe environment you should be able to open - whether pub or shop.
The model for opening should be similar to food hygiene; if you can prove to an inspector you have provided a safe environment you should be able to open - whether pub or shop.
It's an enclosed space, virus particles spread in the air, it certainly doesn't take a genius to work out that airborne transmission will still occur, as was seen by Covid infections spreading from one hotel room to another in a Covid isolation hotel - the Park Royal, in Australia.
https://www. abc. net. au/news/2021-02-03/victoria-investigating-possible-coronavirus-spread-in-quarantine/13117828
https://www. abc. net. au/news/2021-02-03/victoria-investigating-possible-coronavirus-spread-in-quarantine/13117828
Previously My local Primark has a strict, marshalled outside queuing system, where you have to stand on 2 meter markers and keep your mask on while queuing ( condition of entry). There is also bouncer style door staff at the point of entry, maintaining the restricted number of people in the store at any one time. Oh yes and max groups of 3. Obviously I can't comment on your local Primark.
no one drunk trying to cuddle you and tell you, that you are their best mate.
But inside Primark I am not sat opposite a table from someone for an hour. You get in, keep moving, buy items and leave.
Also don't worry about sanitising items, it doesn't really matter, covid is caught through breath, not touch.
Also don't worry about sanitising items, it doesn't really matter, covid is caught through breath, not touch.
If you visited JDW you would’ve seen folks wandering about refilling their coffees /teas,looking at the beer taps etc,all tables occupied and no checking on whether you gave your contact for T&T.low paid poorly trained staff = poor service and often poor attitude.
Neither should be allowed to open at this time
Spot on.... Non essential shops are far more dangerous than a Pub.
Any idea when Primark WILL e=re open?.
You have to take OFF your mask to drink. That is not allowed in a shop.
Your argument is therefore rubbish!!!
Your argument is therefore rubbish!!!
Neither of these scenarios consist of essential shopping so you should both shut up.
Didn't work in the summer - morons in one of our local pubs clearly unable to follow a basic one-way system. And common sense goes out the window after the first pint. Unfortunately your idealised scenario just doesn't work and rightly has been stopped.
I quite like Primark - but I've never spent 3 hours in there with a bunch of drunks!
Yes, responsible pubs do all they can to mitigate risk but unfortunately their clientele does not.
Yes, responsible pubs do all they can to mitigate risk but unfortunately their clientele does not.
You fail to note the reason kids don't need to wear masks and schools will be the first things to reopen. Yes, getting merry with your mates in a pub is definitely more dangerous than Primark.
If there's a clear correlation between a particular shop and the behaviour of its customers, maybe we should make special cases for those shops and not allow them to reopen.
Mark - that's it, good boy, spin an unlikely scenario and worse case and compare to a pub or weatherspoons with everyone behaving pefectly. Good boy. False contrast.
A huge difference is that people in pubs talk, face to face, over minutes. When people break social distancing in shops, it's for a second - I'm more worried about the numbers inside supermarkets than how close they get to me, or if they touched a tin - we now know that airborne spread and ventilation way more important than decontaminating plastic bags.
sure sounds great, but also on the condition that people sharing a table are from the same household, or outdoors.
And therein is the "issue", patrons sitting down not wearing a mask between sips. "No cross contamination"? What, no one goes over to a mate to say hello? No one calls across "How's it going John"? And "numbers regulated" by having people queue outside, many not wearing a mask, many failing to maintain social distancing, same issue as inside "greeting friends" "calling out as friends pass".
The solution to Primark behaving unacceptably is not to lower the bar for all. It's to raise the bar for Primark (in your example).
Have you been to your local 'spoons... It goes against nearly everything you said.
Wetherspoons, the Primark of the beer selling industry. Cheap and poor quality.
Wetherspoons should be open for a Great Full English Breakfast and Ale by middle of March and we should dispense with the Face Muzzles and social isolation by then, most people likely to be serious ill would have been vaccinated by then and we need to open the Economy and get our life back
Well I wont be going back in until I've been vaccinated whenever they open
Thundercat is back on his familiar theme of let's keep spreading the pandemic for the sake of his shareholders and bank balance..
Thundercat :lol:
(Want to feel old? This is what Lion-o looks like now)
(Want to feel old? This is what Lion-o looks like now)
Superb name for him, most of the ones I used were too rude for most.
I'd say he was more Noddy Holder without the sideburns...
It would be nuts to even consider opening pubs at this stage.
Jobs are important, people lives and health is more important.
Jobs are important, people lives and health is more important.
Indeed. June will be fine as earliest. Assuming we understand a good deal more about how the vaccines work by then.
With a lack of jobs and money, the populations lives and health become a lot worse, perhaps not immediately but this will be felt for many years to come. It's not so black & white.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. It isn't a trade off of jobs vs health. The opposite is more likely to be true - lack of employment, social contact, and self-esteem, are likely to cause far more health issues in the long term than China virus. The cure is worse than the disease.
The pubs and restaurants need to open as soon as possible. I'd feel much safer in my local club than in my local supermarket. This has gone on too long now. It's also time they started releasing real figures like people who have died from and not with covid.
It's a pub - who needs it? Just grab a 4 pack from the offy for now.
Opening pubs is not a threat to peoples lives and health. Closing them however most certainly is.
Years of life lost to health inequalities dwarf the impacts of COVID. We don't devote untold billions to that problem. For those people, jobs, lives and health are indivisible.
This is true. The very ill and sadly deceased buy now beer.
I would rather wait as long as we have to and stay in lockdown as long as it will be the last one (within reason). Can't deal with the stop start lockdowns anymore and opening up too early just to please a minority. If opening up some parts of society too early is just going to drag this out longer then it is a bad idea.
It’s easy to say that when you aren’t significantly impacted as many are. Many pensioners with protected pensions haven’t been hit financially, and many working from home are better off, but large sections of the population are suffering severely financially particularly the young, who have little chance of finding employment
Ultimately what is going to hurt people more? Riding it out for a few more months with a return to normality after or opening up too soon and going in and out of lockdown with more uncertainty.
The government need to do more to help those who are impacted, but opening up and risking public health is not the way. Times are hard for all, there is no magic quick fix that will work for everyone.
The government need to do more to help those who are impacted, but opening up and risking public health is not the way. Times are hard for all, there is no magic quick fix that will work for everyone.
You are 100% correct, and the UK cannot be living on borrowed money forever.
Even the many tens of thousands of people that have been furloughed do not know if they will have jobs to go back to, or, if they do, how long will their jobs be in existence in the long term.
Even the many tens of thousands of people that have been furloughed do not know if they will have jobs to go back to, or, if they do, how long will their jobs be in existence in the long term.
If the "young" have suffered financially, how will they pay for beer ?
Then call for the government to offer more financial support (after all, they can afford to spend a million pounds £1 million defending the Good Law Project's judicial review of their decisions to award contracts criticised by the National Audit Office) rather than reopening sectors early which will make it easier for the virus to mutate, meaning we will need more lockdowns.
as hard as it is for a lot of people this is probably the last chance we have to control this disease. Further spikes or vaccine tolerant mutations will decimate our economy and inflict more human misery on us making life harder for most in the long term.
My protected pension stopped me affording to go to a Pub years ago.
And it will be the young, socially mobile folk that as yet currently unvaccinated will be continuing to spread the infection. There is no point in opening the economy up widely because the country will be back to square one.
What are you going on about? "Many pensioners with protected pensions haven’t been hit financially"? Really? Think about it. Every online grocery shop is a minimum £40 spend and a delivery charge. And the "protected pension" won't be as society is opened up and all this "cost" is paid back. Many pensioners are subsidising those in their family who are worse off. You try living on £800 a month.
Why didn't we go into lockdown sooner?
Why haven't we come out of lockdown yet?
Why did we come out of lockdown too soon?
Rinse and repeat.
Why haven't we come out of lockdown yet?
Why did we come out of lockdown too soon?
Rinse and repeat.
Not necessarily an opposition idea.
I was in Norway when it went into lockdown on 12th March 2020, 11 days made a huge difference
Norway 592 dead, 5.3 million people
Uk 117166 dead, 67 million population
You could foresee it, Erna Solberg foresaw it and saved the lives of over 8000 of her fellow citizens.
I was in Norway when it went into lockdown on 12th March 2020, 11 days made a huge difference
Norway 592 dead, 5.3 million people
Uk 117166 dead, 67 million population
You could foresee it, Erna Solberg foresaw it and saved the lives of over 8000 of her fellow citizens.
There was no hindsight about it, at each time qualified people were saying what should happen far in advance of the government finally paying attention and doing it (we know the government got the same advice, it was political decisions to delay action), at great cost to the country in terms of lives lost and longer lockdowns.
You do not understand what the word hindsight means. The only thing Tim Martin is an expert on is the needs of Tim martin.
Pity Boris didn't from the start
I thought you'd had enough of experts.
The Tories have been ballsing this up long enough to use hindsight too. They keep ignoring experts. For goodness's sake, wake up.
No, just comparing bozo’s slowness at decision making. All countries who locked down ‘hard’ and closed their borders are now living (almost) normally. Look at NZ and Australia.
Learning from past mistakes is a sign off intelligence. Repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome is most definitely a sign of stupidity. I suspect the same applies to the electorate. No party remains in opposition permanently.
Yes Boris should have listened to the experts and taken the threat seriously in the first place rather than postponing the lockdown until after his baby shower, not attending Cobra meetings, and boasting about shaking Covid patients' hands! I could understand if he had learned his lesson but he has consistently failed to act in time.
Should I infer that you're an expert, and that all other contributors here are experts? I guess not. But you know how to jump to conclusions, and you've learned the PM's impressive reply to so many of those difficult questions he has to face. (Not to answer: he doesn't do that.)
Certainly not to anyone with a different opinion to you, eh?
Covid Complexity - been reading the Daily Mail again?
Covid Complexity - been reading the Daily Mail again?
Given the performance of SAGE, who are supposed to be the experts, then NO, don't leave it to them!
You are ubiquitous
It's not hindsight, it was all blindingly obvious at the time.
daft comment Hostamosta - The dither Killer Johnson didn't lockdown on 3rd feb 2020 when the experts suggested did he. When Labour suggest anything, Brexit Johnson ignores it, makes fun of labour and then 2-3 weeks later does what should have been done. But carry on killing people mate
Boris/Pinocchio expert? Hahaha. Only an expert at lining the pockets of some of his dodgy supporters and/or supporting his aims & aspirations. Take a look at his record, both in & out of public life. The list of negatives is endless. Vaccine success? That's because the job was handed to the military, instead of one of his incompetent cabinet colleagues.
We'd love it if the government left it to the experts.
Like when SAGE said the government should introduce a second lockdown in September (with the backing of Keir Foresight) and the government ignored them resulting in another economic hit and 10's of thousands of additional deaths...
So leave out the Tory apologist smears and propaganda posts, and let the experts make the decisions.
Like when SAGE said the government should introduce a second lockdown in September (with the backing of Keir Foresight) and the government ignored them resulting in another economic hit and 10's of thousands of additional deaths...
So leave out the Tory apologist smears and propaganda posts, and let the experts make the decisions.
He's pointing out how it goes, it happends every time, we come out of lockdown slightly to appease the mega rich. Then the mega rich come put and complain it was too early and blame the government for spreading it again.
Government blames them k turn and we go back in to lockdown and so it goes around again.
Government blames them k turn and we go back in to lockdown and so it goes around again.
Oh look, Mummy's too busy to give Hostamosta her attention, so he's desperately looking for the attention of strangers on the internet! What a sad and pitiful individual!
I think you have missed his point.
Hostanosta I think you may need help with your alternative reality. According to you the current Health Secretary is a "leftie" because he opposses easing lockdown just to satisfy a "rightie" fantasy. Oh and add the Prime Minister, so by your logic Brexit was brought to us by communists.
Pleas join the real world where political opinions that differ from yours are acceltable.
Pleas join the real world where political opinions that differ from yours are acceltable.
Only someone with a total lack of understanding would write such tosh, and only a complete idiot thinks Boris has done a good job.
Lol you really couldn't sense the tone in the comment, could you?
We have left it to the "experts" far too long... they are the Virus and plague on our society not Covid ..
An expert is a person that will disagree with everyone else who claims to be an expert. No one knows how this will pan out but looking back to the bubonic plague episode it appears the illness will just wear out and sod off. So keep the pubs shut for the next 300 years and we are fine.
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
No, being wrong is what makes him wrong. Welcome to capitalism Mr Martin. When demand returns, so will supply, it is just the supplier may be different. Capitalism doesn't care.
Quote "the Wetherspoons chain paying about £10 of tax for every pound of profit it made." - No wonder he's in trouble!
I'm looking forward to the pubs being open, especially the Wetherspoons near my house.
But I think we need to wait a few more weeks, until rates of infection are right down and maybe the over 50s/vulnerable are vaccinated.
Hopefully the staff will have been furloughed, and will keep their jobs.
But I think we need to wait a few more weeks, until rates of infection are right down and maybe the over 50s/vulnerable are vaccinated.
Hopefully the staff will have been furloughed, and will keep their jobs.
Opening the pubs last summer was a disaster which cost us, as a country, very dear in terms of lives and treasure. The very notion that a bunch of Stella-quaffing oiks in Weatherspoons are going to socially distance etc. is absurd, and so it proved.
I feel sorry for the workers and contractors, but we cannot afford a FOURTH spike. Looks like the UK has finally got its act together at last.
I feel sorry for the workers and contractors, but we cannot afford a FOURTH spike. Looks like the UK has finally got its act together at last.
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
No that's capitalism you speak
The need to get drunk?
Nobody needs a drink.
If Mr Wetherspoons is so concerned for jobs he can pay his staff out of the many millions of his fortune.
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
As somebody that has worked for him before, I can tell you he does not.
"Reasonably well' ?? On the different planet there. What nonsense.
looks after his staff reasonably well? This is the guy who was going to sack all his staff off 12 months ago & told them to go & make PPE until the furlough scheme came in. Yes a model employer not
He feeds on the works of others. The man is essentially a parasite.
"Tim Martin told 40,000 workers in a video that they should feel free to take jobs at retailers such as Tesco while Wetherspoon pubs remain closed." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52018360
Any man who tells his staff he isn't paying them and they should get a job in a supermarket doesn't care. And by going elsewhere I will create jobs in other places. And the answer to your question about how many jobs have I created, over 150 in the last three years. You? (or are you Tim in disguise?)
No, he really doesn't.
I used to work for Wetherspoons. We didn't get paid overtime, we didn't get payslips, I paid emergency tax for the entire time I worked there, I never had an evening or weekend off. I'd usually only get one day a week off. I frequently had to cover both bar and kitchen on my own. No we weren't treated well we were treated like garbage so I quit.
Yeah, right.... if I had to work in Wetherspoons it would be out of sheer desperation, and every day I'd look in the mirror and say 'what were you thinking?'
What about all the jobs he destroyed through undercutting the competition. I know in the small town I grew up in, that most of the independent venues closed within a couple of years of a Wetherspoons opening, as they couldn't compete on price, I'd say his business model actually reduces local employers and employment opportunities through his monopoly on the market.
But "The Truth" isn't on national media telling the government to open pubs,during a worldwide pandemic,this man does not care about people or the tax revenues he pay's, he cares about is his bottom line, and that is exclusively himself.
Absolute nonsense from someone that has clearly spent too much time in Mr Martin's establishments.
Just because someone hires people it doesn't give them a moral superiority or put them above criticism.
Just because someone hires people it doesn't give them a moral superiority or put them above criticism.
Mr Tim wanting his slice of the geriatric rave scene - ACEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!
Hi Tim
What an utterly pointless comment, lol.
How many jobs/pub landlords has he taken away with his monopoly? How many of those would be doing the same job for a better wage if he didn't have that monopoly. (Which is a paid for privilege, not superior business sense).
Why is the BBC giving air time to this moron?
Removed
The People want Spoons open again, we were promised a Festival of Brexit with Beacons lit across the land and British Parties to celebrate freedom from the EU Politburo..get the Alehouses of England open by May and let us dispense with with petty Face Muzzles and be a Free People again
Big surprise.
We had them on about doing Eat Out To Spread About again.
That was a waste of £850,000,000.
They have had furlough
Business Rates
VAT reduction
£1,000? per employee in January for nothing.
Question is has Kermit and the Gang learnt their lessons yet.
How many times are we going to repeat the same mistakes.
We had them on about doing Eat Out To Spread About again.
That was a waste of £850,000,000.
They have had furlough
Business Rates
VAT reduction
£1,000? per employee in January for nothing.
Question is has Kermit and the Gang learnt their lessons yet.
How many times are we going to repeat the same mistakes.
Not worth the digestive problems.
Is like paying half price to eat cardboard boxes.
The Great British Public have been subject to Face Muzzling for far too long, we need a normal life back and Pubs and Bars are an essential part of public life and socialising and feelgood, all Leisure centres and Gyms should be open by April
I thought Tim said his staff should go and get a job at Tesco?
Covid Cult lock-downs are killing, and will kill more younger and healthier people than Covid. I hope you come back on when that is evident and 'confess' you were a supporter.
I do love when businesses claim they pay tax that they don’t.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
He couldn't even argue that as 'Employer's NI' is a percentage of your wages that they don't give you
Spot on!
I think you missed out the duty on alcohol. Which is a seriously large chunk of change when you're in the pub business.
You are correct about who ultimately bears the cost, but he's still correct in saying that his company is the body that pays the tax to the exchequer. And without that contribution to public funds, we all suffer.
Hmmm - buddy - that 20p in the pound is based on VAT - which he will be paying based on Turnover. Profit is an entirely different thing...
Spot on. Shows what a disingenuous self serving individual he is.
Excellent argument for why EVERY company tax eventually falls on the individual.
So he's a tax collector for the government, just like every other VAT registered business in the country. Almost all the tax he "pays" just goes through his hands, it doesn't come out of his pocket. Profit is what's left after everything has been paid, it's a very different thing to turnover.
Big business always moans about how much tax it pays, regulations etc.
If life is so bad running a big business why bother? Nobody forces people to run a national pub chain, or an airport.
Somehow the bosses of big business don’t sound sincere when they say it’s all about their staff and customers. More likely it’s about their big pay cheques, bonus and shares.
If life is so bad running a big business why bother? Nobody forces people to run a national pub chain, or an airport.
Somehow the bosses of big business don’t sound sincere when they say it’s all about their staff and customers. More likely it’s about their big pay cheques, bonus and shares.
!5m people in the UK may have been given their first vaccine, but they still need to receive the second jab to be fully protected.
Hoards in Primark, M&S and other large retail stores, yet a moderated number in pubs and bars.....which is worse? Drinking does not make you instantly stupid, so if the establishment is following the rules then there is no reason to delay if other retail can open. Seems like its a punishment for no reason otherwise.
Hence the expression
"I could kill for a pint"
And some people undoubtably have
"I could kill for a pint"
And some people undoubtably have
Boris the Clown is responsible for the high death rate due to Government negligence
You have absolutely no way of knowing that.
Pubs are very safe as all the data shows.
Pubs are very safe as all the data shows.
Way over the top.
Not as many as you and your Covid Cult lock-downs will kill. I wonder how many you killed in say, 2017 , 50,000+ excess deaths in the Flu season - did you keep count? What about every flu season in your miserable life? Did you lock-down? Why save the NHS if it can be shut down for almost a year and not produce any excess deaths? Like Cancer's, heart attacks? You are an ignorant idiot.
Removed
Very virtue signalling .. sound like a snowflake to me ..
I thought Tim said his staff should go and get a job at Tesco?
Are you Tim?! You are in here defending him like your life depended on it.
They could also have worked in Tesco and still have been paid furlough from Wetherspoons.
It was twisted by the left wing media and Remainers to mean something else. I wonder how many have actually bothered to read or listen to what Tim Martin actually said.
It was twisted by the left wing media and Remainers to mean something else. I wonder how many have actually bothered to read or listen to what Tim Martin actually said.
Morning Tim!
He has a point, they do need to be reopened, but not when non essential shops are reopened. Hospitality has to be reopened as there are millions employed in the sector, it isn’t just pubs but hotels, restaurants, theatres, museums and cinemas. If these don’t open in the next three months the economic impact will be devastating. The country can’t keep running a deficit
Quote "the Wetherspoons chain paying about £10 of tax for every pound of profit it made." - No wonder he's in trouble!
They don't pay VAT, the customer does. Beer costs about 10p a pint to make, yet Martin Charges 20 to 30 times that.
Skint Then?!
VAT and Duty are paid by customers as part of the price. PAYE is paid by employees out their own money that they earned. The company only pays things like employers NI and business rates. Corporation Tax is only on profits.
In this case it's both, but about avoiding the individual needing hospital care above all else. Still I agree with you - "it's not all about you" needs to be said more often right now
Not sure where these hoards are. It is a ghost town here, with most retail closed. M&S which sells food is open but hardly crowded, Primark is closed, Tesco is open with restricted, (supervised) numbers. Agreed that drinking does not make you instantly stupid, that takes a few pints.
Presumably you were one of the hoard to have noticed this.
I do love when businesses claim they pay tax that they don’t.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
Employers NI may be justified but it is a tax on jobs all the same.
No employer's NIC does not impact on the employee at all. It is a business cost.
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
Back at you. lol.
But does all that experience and achievement make him an expert in public health? Like others of his ilk, such as Michael O'Leary of Ryanair, he is only worried about one thing. They'll tell you they'll do everything to stop the spread but they can't control every member of staff or the member of the public that works in their pubs (or on their airlines). So they have to stay shut.
We? Not me
He gets to opine for the same reason you get to opine - it's a free country.
Truly deluded.
It would definitely not be a free country if the far right had their way. How is the fish diet going?
How would it not? Please elaborate instead of just posting anti-left soundbites with no substance, gleaned from the comments section of the DE and DM.
I think you're wrong. The younger generations don't read the right wing printed media , they get news from other sources. Socialism will make a huge comeback in a few years time.
Martin is a hero? Only to old boozehounds who are happy to be told what to think by Murdoch and his ilk
Martin is a hero? Only to old boozehounds who are happy to be told what to think by Murdoch and his ilk
If Mr Wetherspoons is so concerned for jobs he can pay his staff out of the many millions of his fortune.
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
But we all know what he's concerned for. This is the same man who back in March 2020 said that "there's no reason for the pubs to close" ...
Education is far more essential than meeting up at the pub.
Why introduce more transmission vectors than necessary?
Why introduce more transmission vectors than necessary?
Data? Problem is, children are more likely to do what they're told whereas drinkers don't.
Complete lie.
Erm...no, they don't .... you just made that up. Only 5% of transmissions come from younger children, and 10% from teenagers and young people (students). The vast majority of transmissions are from older people to older people...particularly in places like pubs
The People want Spoons open again, we were promised a Festival of Brexit with Beacons lit across the land and British Parties to celebrate freedom from the EU Politburo..get the Alehouses of England open by May and let us dispense with with petty Face Muzzles and be a Free People again
I do love when businesses claim they pay tax that they don’t.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
£10 tax for every £1 profit?? Bad tax advisers because that should be 20p. But what he really means is VAT, PAYE, NIC, and Corporation Tax.
VAT suffered by consumer, PAYE suffered by employee, Employees NIC suffered by employee. The only thing he could argue is employers NI.
Again you are 100% correct.
when demand returns so will supply. The aircraft and pubs still exist. It will just be someone else doing the supplying. That's capitalism. Why is it that the right wing in this country have no understanding of what their core belief means.
Maybe they can move to all the new opportunities Brexit will provide.
The poster is probably a public sector worker who doesn't realise that most of the population don't have their cushy guaranteed pensions!
Not sure why Tim Martin gets to opine on anything, it's clear his only interest is self interest and people drinking in pubs is a huge risk of spreading Covid.
Because when people drink their guard drops. People will start hugging and forget social distancing. Then it will be arranging parties after the pubs have shut because once alcohol is on board, common sense goes out of the window. You may not like this but it's the truth. Just for the record I'm definitely working class
alcoholics need somewhere too, I suppose.
it's got nothing to do with class. Middle class people like drinking in pubs just as much as anybody else
Getting drunk leads to a reduction in inhibitions. People forget social distancing. They may think it's a great idea to have house party after the pub closes and invite people to their houses etc etc. That's why.
Middle class people also go to pubs. When people get drink, they tend to be less inhibited and are more likely to ignore social distancing regulations. There's evidence that the Eat Out to Help out scheme in restaurants coincided with a rise in cases, why should pubs be any different? Opening pubs will drive up cases and make the virus more likely to mutate to become vaccine resistant.
Hence the expression
"I could kill for a pint"
And some people undoubtably have
"I could kill for a pint"
And some people undoubtably have
Really? So it’s not all the morons who keep socialising, or don’t believe there is a pandemic that’s spreading it? Methinks it’s you who is the Clown! ??
He is re lock-down deaths but he didn't infect the care homes, the NHS did that. Then again, across Europe the same story, they, like all Europe's politicians panicked, listened to China & now can't admit it because all those deaths mean the end of careers & they'd like to stay in their posts a few more years yet.
No he’s not ..
No one person is responsible
UK has high obesity,high diabetes,is more densely populated than most of Europe..
People have behaved poorly
NHS and PHE management have been found wanting..
NHS has been under funded for years and years ...
I guess all the above is Boris’s fault ? Really ?
Get real .. have government done a good job .. other than furlong and vaccination..no..
No one person is responsible
UK has high obesity,high diabetes,is more densely populated than most of Europe..
People have behaved poorly
NHS and PHE management have been found wanting..
NHS has been under funded for years and years ...
I guess all the above is Boris’s fault ? Really ?
Get real .. have government done a good job .. other than furlong and vaccination..no..
We’ve got a while to wait until ‘beer garden weather’ and indoor drinking while the R number hovers around .7 to .9 doesn’t make sense. It’s true over 70 s now protected make up 88% of deaths but barely more than 50% of hospitalisations. Once the other groups are done and the pressure is off the hospitals I can’t see any reason not to get back to pretty much normality
Landlords ignored the rules last time around and take no responsibility for those getting hammered, only interested in cash going in the till
For an awful long time I defended Wetherspoons. Growing up they were the only pub in town where you could get a pint for under £4 and the prices on food made for a cheap meal out. I always thought their critics were snobs. The way Tim Martin behaved over the past year though has meant I won't be going into one again.
Perhaps now, but I suspect in the long term market forces will prevail!
What way has he behaved? He said to his staff that if the 80% furlough was not enough and they had to leave to work at Tesco, he would hire them back first when things opened up.
All of the pub industry wants to reopen. Tim Martin is the one most widely reported because of his profile, so I am afraid your argument fails. I am not a great lover of spoons but if he can sell his beer at half the price of everyone else why can't they match him for price? Greed? Inefficiency?
Unfortunately there is always a market for cheap and Tim Martin knows it.
There's a reason it's so cheap. As a student it was a necessity but damn you regret every bite knowing where you're eating an who you're paying. Only people in Spoons here are students and sad old Brexit voting drunks.
Tim Martin is NOT interested in ' all pubs'. He would like many to close and feed his empire. I do go to Weatherspoons but not at the expense of others.
Oh dear - you will be missed!
Under £3 in my local, and good beer.
But on the very few times I have been to Wethersloons, The food was not bad, a bit better than the microwave meals many pubs serve now.
But on the very few times I have been to Wethersloons, The food was not bad, a bit better than the microwave meals many pubs serve now.
He looks after his staff reasonably well. How many people do you employ? How many jobs have you created?
I wonder if Japan suffers this fixation with Booze..
Man with vested interest makes statement to help his business. Is this really news?
and his employees don't have a vested interest in jobs? You must be on a pension, gold plated I guess, OR you are public sector? Lucky the BOE can print money to pay wages, maybe they should let time use a photocopier, then he could print money to pay his staff too?
Vested interests is the biggest threat to democracy. Not just this example but look into who invests in big pharma, who pays grants to regulators, who funds political parties. They should all be declared and monitored
Tim Martin is an odious human being and I will never set foot in one of his pubs again
Removed
Removed
He's a charming gentleman who followed his vision and has been successful. Ideal fodder for people to cast insults at in the British 'bashem' culture. He will be flattered that you even know his name wheras you are a keyboard warrior hiding beneath the cloak of anonymity.
The BBC gives airtime to lots of morons ... you can't escape morons