JD Wetherspoon boss hails immigration

Tim Martin, founder and chairman of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, has said the UK’S future economic health will rely on inward immigration that he said was a “good thing” for the country.

Martin, one of the highest-profile business backers of Brexit, said immigration benefited the UK, but that he was keen to see it come under domestic control and ensure it is “subject to the will of the people”.

He added: “Immigration is a good thing but you don’t need to give your democracy away to get what you want. You need a slightly rising population as the years go by to have a successful economy and a successful country.”

Martin, whose Wetherspoon chain has about 70 outlets in Scotland including the The Counting House in Dundee and The Standing Order in Edinburgh, told the BBC’S Desert Island Discs programme that an Australianstyle immigration “points system” would still help make up for a low birth rate in Britain.

The group employs between 2,000 and 3,000 staff from other EU countries, with the British Hospitality Association saying earlier this autumn that 700,000 of the hospitality sector’s 3.2 million workforce are from the EU.

Martin,whoownsmorethan 30 per cent of Wetherspoon, last month issued 500,000 beer mats across Wetherspoon’s near-900 UK pubs featuring a “manifesto” for a successful Brexit.

It came as the group said same-floorspace sales jumped 6 per cent in its latest trading quarter. 0 Tim Martin – migrants ‘beneficial’ to economy