Pub boss Martin: Scotland can thrive if it becomes independent

THE boss of pub giant JD Wetherspoon has declared Scotland would thrive if it became independent, citing the “will of the people” as the most significant driver of a country’s fortunes.
Tim Martin, a vocal supporter for Leave in the recent EU referendum, asserted his view that a country’s prosperity is closely linked to the democratic will of its people.
It is one of the key reasons he believes the UK’s economic fortunes will improve following the Brexit vote. He argues the same logic would apply to Scotland if there is a second independence referendum and Scots vote to leave the UK.
Mr Martin used a trading update to attack the “unprecedented doom-mongering” from David Cameron, George Osborne, Bank of England governor Mark Carney and the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde about what a Brexit vote would mean for the economy.
The high-profile publican believes Britain’s “economic prospects will improve” because the public had “voted to restore democracy in the UK”. 
Similarly, he argues that Scotland would be prosperous if a second independence referendum resulted in a Yes vote.
Referring to the messaging from the Remain camp during the EU referendum, Mr Martin, who distributed pro-Brexit beer mats in Wetherspoon pubs before the poll, said: “I also took offence at being asked to substantiate similar scare stories in Scotland at the time of the referendum there. Whether a country is economically successful depends on what the majority of people want to do.
“I think Scotland will be successful outside the UK if the majority of people want to be outside the UK and they are determined to make a success of it. And they can be successful inside the UK. It is not written in stone one way or the other. It depends very much on the will of the people.” 
Mr Martin said Brexit was “definitely the right vote” in the EU referendum and launched a vigorous attack on the prime minister, chancellor and the Bank of England, as well as the IMF and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), claiming they went out of their way to “try and frighten people” before the vote. “I feel disgusted by their behaviour,” he said.
Asked to comment on the assertion that it was the role of such authorities to illustrate what they perceived to be the risks of a Brexit vote, Mr Martin said: “I think they were cynical attempts to frighten people. One of the headlines in a lot of newspapers was that mortgage rates were going to go up – that was the Bank of England governor and the chancellor of the exchequer [claiming that]. They have already gone down. Gilt rates have gone down.
“Either it was a scare story or they are totally and completely incompetent.”
Mr Martin was speaking as Wetherspoon said that like-for-like sales had risen by four per cent in the 11 weeks to July 10. 
The company recently opened pubs at Waverley Station and Lothian Road in Edinburgh, as well as in Largs on the west coast, with Mr Martin noting that it will continue to invest in pubs north of the Border. It has around 75 pubs in Scotland.