Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin calls for workers’ visa

The boss of JD Wetherspoon has called on the prime minister to introduce a visa scheme for European Union workers as British pubs and restaurants struggle to recruit staff in the post-pandemic labour market squeeze.

Tim Martin, a vocal Brexiteer, said Boris Johnson should introduce a visa system to reduce the pressures on companies, suggesting that countries geographically closer to the UK could be given preferential treatment.

Pub and restaurant bosses have said they were being forced to shut sites during the crucial lunchtime trade because of a shortage of workers.

Martin, 66, told the Daily Telegraph: “The UK has a low birth rate. A reasonably liberal immigration system controlled by those we have elected, as distinct from the EU system, would