Wetherspoon issues pro-Brexit beer mats

The founder of one of the UK’s largest pub chains, Wetherspoon, has issued 200,000 beer mats to the company’s 920 pubs calling for the UK to leave EU.

The front of Wetherspoon’s ‘vote leave’ beer mats

The beers mats make clear founder Tim Martin’s views on the controversial referendum set to take place later this month, and breaks one of the most commonly held rules of pub etiquette – don’t talk about politics.

Martin’s beer mats draw attention to governance issues with senior staff at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and asks why UK voters should trust the views of its managing director, Christine Lagarde.

One side of the mat shows a photo of Christine Lagarde with Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne that reads: “ Dear Madame Lagarde, At Wetherspoon, we sincerely respect and admire the French people and your country, but note that you are due to stand trial in France for your part in authorizing a 400 million euro payment by the French state to Bernard Tapie – a supporter of your political party.

“This follows the resignation, in disgrace, of your predecessor at the IMF – Dominique Strauss-Kahn. “Why should we trust the IMF?”

Lagarde has already voiced her support for the UK to remain part of the EU.

The reverse of the beer mat raises further questions, asking its the governance of the IMF is any better than that of  FIFA, which has seen its fair share of controversy this year, ending with “Vote ‘leave’ – take back control.

“Did anyone elect you? Why is Greece in such trouble after six years of IMF advice? Has the IMF warned the Eurozone that no currency, in history, has survived without a single government?” ask the mats.

Explaining his decision to distribute the hard-hitting beer mats throughout its 920 pubs, Martin said: “The government has paraded a number of financial institutions in front of the public, who have, in my view, grossly distorted our financial prospects in the event of a Brexit. One of these is the IMF, whose boss Christine Lagarde is due to stand trial in France for her role in authorizing a payment to French businessman Bernard Tapie of 400 million euros. Her predecessor was Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned in disgrace.

“Corporate governance at the IMF is clearly out of control and Christine Lagarde would have been obliged to resign at any normal Plc or institution until the matters in question were resolved. The UK public have been asked to rely on her comments by both George Osborne and David Cameron in the forthcoming referendum and she must now answer the questions on the beer mats and others that the public may have. Christine Lagarde’s integrity and her bona fides as a national advisor, as well as that of the IMF, are a legitimate and important concern.”

The referendum on whether the UK should leave the EU is due to take place on 23 June, with several drinks trade organisations already voicing their position.

The reverse of the beer mat

The UK’s environment secretary Elizabeth Truss has already warned that leaving the EU would be a “leap in the dark” for the UK food and drink industry and could put Scotch exports at risk, sentiments that have been supported by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

In the event that the UK decides to leave Europe, British producers are likely to face bureaucratic barriers when trading with Europe, Truss and the SWA have said.

Meanwhile Damian Hinds, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, has warned that leaving the EU could “apply the brakes” to the UK’s booming gin industry – which has seen global exports increase by 46% in the past five years.

The chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, Miles Beale, backed up this view speaking at the 2016 Ginposium in London, stating that the UK gin industry had benefitted greatly from its membership in the EU, providing a “springboard for the global and growing success of British gin”.