In January the far-right white supremacist National Front held an anti-Muslim march in Stoke. They started the festivities in a JD Wetherspoons pub to drink, sing and generally prepare themselves for a fun afternoon’s racism and bigotry.
This prompted many members of the public, as well as anti-fascist organisations, to write in protest to Wetherspoons to object to a family pub being taken over by these thugs. And in a remarkable display of decency over profit, Wetherspoon have responded by pledging they will close their pubs rather than allow a repeat of this performance.
A letter, which has been published on the Socialist Worker website, from Kathy Long of the pub chain explains that Wetherspoons are often ‘asked by the police to allow people to meet due to the size of our establishments and their reputation for being well managed pubs’. However ‘given the feedback we have received…it will be our preference close the pub rather than inadvertently become the host for such an event’.
Although it won’t stop the EDL gathering or marching, at least this removes one veneer of respectability.
Gold star to JD Wetherspoon plc for acting so quickly on customer feedback.
