Boycoutt Weatherspoons, people of Middlesborough

You must have missed his previous support of the Tories.

And his donation was to the Conservative Mayor, as opposed to mayoral candidate.

Which are the Labour led Middlesbrough and East Cleveland Councils?

So he supported a local MP who was well thought of within the Tory party and the 'Northern Powerhouse' fella and a local Mayor. I can see why he would do both. As I said, there is a difference in making a donation to a local politician, who may have a very good specific policy worth supporting, or the ear of people who can help the town and club he loves. It must be worth trying a little dosh, it worked for the Russians by the looks of it.

He may be a full on Tory now, but this isn't really good evidence, especially given his roots, his recent scathing criticism of them over SSI and his backing of Sue Jeffrey for mayor not so long ago. It strikes me that he is either individually impressed with Wharton and Houchen and some of their local plans, or simply playing some clever politics himself and working with the people he needs to with a bit of mutual back scratching. It is a Conservative Government for 4 more years at least.

What is clear, the Conservatives are very big on helping each other and those who help them. Maybe this will benefit the region. Opposing them has certainly led to some pretty brutal repercussions when they have managed to get themselves back in power.

So, other than two local instances, is there anything else?
 
Most of the decent ales are always ‘coming soon’ Their selection is usually rubbish, Doom Bar, Ruddles and Abbot are cheap tasteless tat. I do not want to see what isn’t available as it is a friggin wind up. Get a decent selection of darker beers in too, Old Ales, Stouts and Porters etc, not just this pale, lager coloured, flowery, summer filth that they sell to the sheep who are happy because it is cheap. As pubs go, they are often soulless these days. Lloyds no1 are the worst of the worst.

Abbot is the best beer in the world
 
Abbot is the best beer in the world
Nah, not having that! Maybe it's to do with getting old but I've started supporting little local breweries as much as poss. Two great wee ones up here - Whitley Bay Brewing Co & Cullercoats Brewery. Both do a great selection of real ales.
 
Man’s a cnut, that’s enough to boycott.

That's pretty much it for me. I'm sure there are plenty of other businesses in favour of brexit or with links to the Tory party etc that I use. If I was aware and there was an easy alternative I'd pick the alternative certainly, but it doesn't keep up at night.

The fact that Martin is such a particularly impressive and high profile specimen of bellend makes it easy to remember to avoid his pubs. The fact there are usually superior alternatives nearby makes it even easier to do.

Bottom line is I'm not happy with the thought of my money making its way into that cnuts pockets. It's about as complex as that.
 
Nah, not having that! Maybe it's to do with getting old but I've started supporting little local breweries as much as poss. Two great wee ones up here - Whitley Bay Brewing Co & Cullercoats Brewery. Both do a great selection of real ales.
Do you frequent the Left Luggage Room ? Excellent ales when I've been in.
 
Infrequently but yes, been in a few times before lockdown and once since. Grand wee place and great to sit outside on the platform when it's warm enough.
 
So he supported a local MP who was well thought of within the Tory party and the 'Northern Powerhouse' fella and a local Mayor. I can see why he would do both. As I said, there is a difference in making a donation to a local politician, who may have a very good specific policy worth supporting, or the ear of people who can help the town and club he loves. It must be worth trying a little dosh, it worked for the Russians by the looks of it.

He may be a full on Tory now, but this isn't really good evidence, especially given his roots, his recent scathing criticism of them over SSI and his backing of Sue Jeffrey for mayor not so long ago. It strikes me that he is either individually impressed with Wharton and Houchen and some of their local plans, or simply playing some clever politics himself and working with the people he needs to with a bit of mutual back scratching. It is a Conservative Government for 4 more years at least.

What is clear, the Conservatives are very big on helping each other and those who help them. Maybe this will benefit the region. Opposing them has certainly led to some pretty brutal repercussions when they have managed to get themselves back in power.

So, other than two local instances, is there anything else?


This doesn't contradict your theory but the thing that stuck in the craw for me over the money was when he wrote to residents to ask them to support that weasel Wharton.
 
What happens to the staff who are employed in these places that we shouldn't be going to when they are eventually made redundant?

I’m not going to pubs full stop, subject to the pandemic, so other local pubs will need staff.

Brexit supporters can keep or start going in or maybe just donate to a support fund if their Brexit is a disaster. They did say they were happy to take a hit to get it, after all. I think they even said they were quite happy for family members and friends to lose their jobs in order to get brexit.

if Brexit is a success and the promises are delivered I will of course have to acknowledge that and I’ll start going in them again.
 
Boycotting high street businesses based on political leanings etc doesn't make much sense to me.

If they (Wetherspoons in this case) offer a product or service at a good price I go there. If decisions were made on moral or political grounds, let's face it, we wouldn't go anywhere. Mike Ashley, Phillip Green come to mind.
 
Boycotting high street businesses based on political leanings etc doesn't make much sense to me.

If they (Wetherspoons in this case) offer a product or service at a good price I go there. If decisions were made on moral or political grounds, let's face it, we wouldn't go anywhere. Mike Ashley, Phillip Green come to mind.
It might not make much sense to you but it can and has made sense to the consumer. There are some very successful businesses based on ethics, The Body Shop springs to mind. There are some businesses which collapsed due to poor ethics such as Ratner's the jewellers, where the owner effective stated in a speech that they sold crap products that were not made to last.
 
It might not make much sense to you but it can and has made sense to the consumer. There are some very successful businesses based on ethics, The Body Shop springs to mind. There are some businesses which collapsed due to poor ethics such as Ratner's the jewellers, where the owner effective stated in a speech that they sold crap products that were not made to last.

What makes sense to me is good old value for money. If you can afford to shope ethically - based on your own political preferences - go for it!

I certainly can't! Tim Martin built his Wethrspoons empire on offering a good product at a CHEAPER price plus being open for longer hours. what is there not to like about that? to not go there simply based on Brexit or you don't like what he stands for doesn't make sense to me.

Re: Ratners. Gerald Ratner did indeed call his jewellery crap but there were plenty of other jewellers on the high street at the time - collingwoods, Samuels etc. offering pretty much the same products. He simply shot himself in the foot and people crossed over the road to buy their belcher chains and st christophers.
 
It great that places like Wetherspoon's and Sam smiths exists. A lot of pubs down here are charging north of a fiver a pint. The one near me is frequented mainly by young people and old people. The sort of folk who have no disposable income due to the housing crisis. More power to them.

Sam Smiths have added a quid a pint, it's no longer cheap!
 
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