Wetherspoon’s boss says 16-year-olds should be allowed to drink in pubs: Chain’s founder is concerned binge-drinking teenagers are not learning how to drink sensibly
Tim Martin, 61, says teens would be safer drinking in pubs than at home
Pubs have ‘more or less become ghettos now for adults,’ he believes
It’s illegal for under 18s to approach order alcohol for themselves in a bar
Source: Daily Mail
By Daily Mail Reporter
4 November 2016
JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin, 61, is concerned that many 16-year-olds binge-drink cheap supermarket alcohol
Teenagers should be allowed to enjoy a beer in their local pub so they can learn ‘social drinking’, the founder of one of the country’s largest pub chains has said.
JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin, 61, is concerned that many 16-year-olds binge-drink cheap supermarket alcohol and do not learn how to drink sensibly.
Mr Martin believes that many young people would be safer drinking in pubs rather than drinking heavily at home before venturing out with friends.
Discussing his concerns over the dangerous binge-drinking culture that exists among young people, he told the Guardian that pubs had ‘more or less become ghettos now for adults’.
Mr Martin, whose pub chain now has nearly 1,000 pubs across Britain and Ireland, said: ‘Some sort of system that allowed 16-year-olds to have a beer or two in a pub would be good.’
Children over the age of 16 are currently allowed a beer, wine or cider with a meal in a pub if they are accompanied by an adult, but it is illegal for any 16-year-old to approach a bar and order themselves an alcoholic drink.
Wetherspoons currently employs 35,000 staff and turns over £1.5billion a year and is seen by many as the saving grace of the struggling pub industry.
The number of pubs across Britain has been steadily closing for years, with nearly 30 pubs going out of business every week.
The pub boss, whose shares in the business are thought to be worth around £250million, has featured heavily in the news over the past year due to his outspoken support of Britain’s exit of the EU.
Just earlier this week Mr Martin threatened to stop selling European beers if ‘bullying’ EU leaders imposed tariffs on Britain.