Spoons Boss Says Brexit Didn’t Do It

This week, the BBC reported “The Wetherspoons chain has said some of its pubs have run out of some beer brands because of supply chain issues. The group said Heineken, Carling and Coors were among the brands affected. Heineken and brewer Molson Coors said that like many in the industry, they had been hit by a shortage of HGV drivers”.

Spoons pubs running out of beer? How so? “The UK is facing a shortage of lorry drivers that hauliers have blamed on Covid and Brexit”. The Guardian was more forthright. “The pub chain Wetherspoon’s is experiencing shortages of some beer brands, including Carling, Coors and Heineken, amid a Brexit-induced shortage of delivery drivers and industrial action”. A big boy did it and ran away! But the irony was lost on no-one.

Tim Martin, that most ardent proponent of Brexit, was now seeing his empire reaping the consequences of his advocacy - on top of having to vehemently deny that the Spoons chain was suffering staff shortages because of EU citizens leaving the UK. But with the passage of 48 hours or so, the Brexit battalions have regrouped and fought back.

Martin has claimed “There are supply chain issues in many EU countries following the pandemic. It has been widely reported that there are shortages of 400,000 HGV drivers in Germany, France and Spain, for example, and Germany, in particular, is struggling with major worldwide supply chain issues”. So is there a shortage of beer in Germany?

Well, no there isn’t. And the same goes for other EU member states where beer shortages might be noticed, like Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There has been talk of an EU-wide “supply chain crunch” for some months now, but it hasn’t had the effect that has seen Spoons pubs run out of beer. But still the pushback came.

The charge was led by Richard Tice (he’s not very nice), thundering “BBC Bias again against Brexit & Wetherspoons…. They are a disgrace & Tim Martin perfectly slaps them down”. Except the Beeb, now so frightened to say anything that might offend alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, was very careful not to make any direct accusation that Brexit was involved. Even if it was all too obvious.

And sadly, Martin’s attempt to dump responsibility for the lack of beer on strike action also backfired, with iNews telling “Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin blames beer shortages on ‘industrial action by lorry drivers’ - not Brexit”, adding “Heineken said strike action was actually cancelled - and that wider supply chain problems were the cause of the delays”.

That did not stop Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”) from repeating Martin’s untrue claims. “‘Strenuous efforts are being made to link supply issues to Brexit,’ the executive chairman said”. The efforts, though, did not need to be strenuous, because the link to Brexit was sodding obvious. Except to Brexiteers.

Tim Martin and his pals should pay heed to the well-known ditty from Australia: “Oh it's-a lonesome away from your kindred and all … By the campfire at night we'll hear the wild dingoes call … But there's-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear … Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer”. Crikey! That Pommie’s bladdy pab’s got no bladdy beer!

The Spoons boss wanted it this way. He can have no complaints. Own it, Brexiteers.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet9