JD Wetherspoon chair Tim Martin has said the government’s stance on business is “taking Britain back to the 1970s,” warning that the UK’s pub industry wasn’t able to fully recover from the long-term effects of the pandemic before higher taxes and costs kicked in.
JD Wetherspoon chair Tim Martin has criticised the “anti-business” stance of the Labour government, warning that increased taxes and wages will only result in more pub closures and higher unemployment.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the businessman said the pub sector was still reeling from the pandemic even before increased costs came into effect, with running the business now akin to “a slow climb without a rope.”
“I thought that a lot of Labour’s election rhetoric, the anti-business rhetoric, was bound to be modified when [they] got into power,” said Martin. “Actually, it has been about as anti-business as anything I have seen in the 47 years I’ve been running the company.”
“The policies they have now are mistaken. It’s a return to the 1970s. People have forgotten the rules of the 70s. Both main political parties think you can make people better off by legislating for higher wages, but it doesn’t work like that. That’s what has created the high unemployment.”
Reflecting on the continued impact of the pandemic, Martin added that Wetherspoon achieved £2bn in annual sales and £100m in profit in 2019, but the operator is now “struggling to get two thirds of the profit we had before.”
“People changed their habits. Pub-going in the UK was a habit, like anything. You go to the office to work, then you stop and work from home. It’s difficult to change back. We were doing better than almost any other pub company. Now it’s a slow climb without a rope. It’s the north face of the Eiger.”
Labour’s biz-kill
Tim Martin said… “I thought that a lot of Labour’s election rhetoric, the anti-business rhetoric, was bound to be modified when [they] got into power. Actually, it has been about as anti-business as anything I have seen in the 47 years I’ve been running…
Originally published on Coinslot on June 22, 2026. Republished with permission.