TWO pints and a portion of political persuasion was the order of the day this week as The Savoy took delivery of new Brexit beer mats.
The move is the brainchild of the Wetherspoon’s founder and chairman, Tim Martin, who is a vocal campaigner for Britain to leave the European Union.
The mats are red to match the colour of the Vote Leave campaign colour scheme and feature a photo of IMF Director Christine Lagarde cosying up to George Osborne.
Rather than offering any clear points on the key campaign issues that concern British voters, the mats carry a curious note from Tim Martin to Lagarde in which he makes reference to her upcoming corruption trial in France and the resignation of her IMF predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
They seem to be more of a personal shot at Lagarde and the IMF, who have warned about the dangers of Britain leaving the EU, rather than anything likely to sway popular opinion among the voting public.
Speaking at the launch of the Brexit mats, Tim Martin said: “The governance issues within the IMF, are, in my opinion, very serious for UK citizens.
“The government has paraded a number of financial institutions in front of the public, who have, in my view, grossly distorted our financial prospects in the event of a Brexit.
“One of these is the IMF, whose boss Christine Lagarde is due to stand trial in France for her role in authorizing a payment to French businessman Bernard Tapie of 400 million euros.”
200,000 mats were printed and distributed to Wetherspoons pubs around the country – including The Savoy on Regent Street.
Liam Stack, general manager at The Savoy, said: “We’ve had negative and positive feedback. A lot of people have come in asking why we think this but it isn’t necessarily our individual opinion, it’s our chairman’s opinion.
“People haven’t been too surprised to see them – Tim Martin is known for being quite politically active, he’s keen to put his opinion out there.
“Generally people have been quite receptive I’d say, some agree and some disagree but it’s certainly a point for debate which is the whole point really.”
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