The boss of Wetherspoons just told everyone to keep going to the pub and people are furious

Remember Tim Martin?

The eccentrically haired (and styled) Wetherspoon’s founder and multi-millionaire was rarely off our screens during the Brexit debate.

But now he’s wading into another topic of the day: coronavirus.

After the prime minister advised everyone to stop going to the pub, his own father Stanley said that he’d probably still be going (*facepalm*). Lots of people have reported seeing packed pubs, despite Boris Johnson basically begging people not to go to them because of the potential risks it might cause.

But now Martin has waded into the argument, saying that shutting pubs over the coronavirus outbreak is "over the top" and they should stay open "for the duration". He argued that supermarkets were far more crowded and claimed there had "hardly been any transmission" of infection in pubs (though we’re not sure how he’d possibly know that information).

His comments came after the business saw a further dip in sales following the PM’s instruction for drinkers to stay at home to help curb the spread Covid-19.

He said:

Our aim is for pubs open for the duration. This could go on for a long time.

I think that once you shut them down it's very difficult.

Supermarkets are very, very crowded. Pubs are much less crowded. There's hardly been any transmission of the virus within pubs and I think it's over the top to shut them.

That's a commercial view but also a common sense view.

So why is Martin so keen to see Britain – the country he claims to love so much – deviate from the advice that’s being followed in literally every other country? Who knows, but he did say that sales slid "at a significantly higher rate" after the crisis hit.

Hmm.

On social media, people weren’t impressed by Martin’s intervention. Given, you know, he’s not a scientist or a doctor.

Soon #BoycottWetherspoons began to trend nationally... and even Piers Morgan got involved.

While we have every sympathy for pubs, restaurants and other businesses across the country, it’s best to follow the latest health advice and avoid social gatherings for now.