Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin hits out at ‘elite Remainers’ as profits plunge

The Brexit-supporting chairman of Wetherspoons has hit out at ‘elite Remainers’ after the pub chain’s profits plunged.

Tim Martin claimed Remainers are ‘missing the big picture’ by concentrating on ‘short-term problems’ such as ferry port delays.

His latest Brexit rant came after it was announced the chain’s pre-tax profits fell by 4.5 per cent to £102 million in the year up until July 28.

While the profit drop has been blamed on increasing staff costs and a loss from selling properties, Mr Martin singled out people who are backing Remain.

He said: ‘Elite Remainers are ignoring the big picture, regarding lower input costs and more democracy, and are mistakenly concentrating on assumed short-term problems, such as potential delays at channel ports — which are easier to extrapolate on their computer models.’

Continuing his outburst, Mr Martin said leaving the EU would eliminate thousands of tariffs improving the ‘lives of consumers and businesses’.

He told CNBC: ‘The odd thing about the UK is that the intellectual class feels very comfortable with this idea of transferring democratic power to technocrats.

‘So I think if we can the hell out, we’ll do better.’

Wetherspoons’ revenues increased by 7 per cent to £1.8bn in the year until July 28.

The company has around 900 UK boozers and plans to open up to 15 more by July next year.

Earlier this month it slashed the price of a pint by 20p at more than 600 pubs.

Mr Martin, 64, has insisted his reasons for supporting Brexit were not related to immigration as it emerged at the time of the  2016 Brexit vote that he employed 3,500 overseas nationals.