Coronavirus: Tim Martin attacks ‘confusion’ over rules as Wetherspoon posts £105m pre-tax loss

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Wetherspoon have announced a pre-tax loss of £105m, as founder Tim Martin attacked “massive confusion” over the government’s coronavirus rules. “Under emergency powers the government is making a lot of changes,” Mr Martin told the BBC’s Today programme, “which we think in the industry are arbitrary, don’t work, like the curfew, and that’s making life almost impossible.” The Wetherspoon’s boss also claimed there was “massive confusion” in the UK over regulations, and said he supported Sweden’s model – which has chosen to keep large parts of society open while social distancing is promoted – where Mr Martin claimed “everyone knows what they’ve got to do”. Quoting business scion Warren Buffett from 1989, Mr Martin said governments across the world have based their lockdown decisions on "deeply flawed analysis" and attacked politicians and the media who reported that the company was considering withholding wages at the start of lockdown – a decision that was eventually not taken.