JD Wetherspoon pubs has cut the price of a pint of beer by 20p in a stunt its founder claimed shows how prices would fall after Brexit.
Chairman Tim Martin said the move illustrated the UK leaving the customs union would not be a “disaster”.
More than 600 of the chain’s pubs will now sell a pint of Greene King’s Ruddles – a British-brewed ale – for £1.69.
Another 160 Wetherspoon pubs will offer a pint for £1.59 or less, while the rest will charge between £1.99 and £2.89, depending on location.
Mr Martin, a vocal supporter of Brexit, claimed the stunt illustrated the savings firms and customers could make after Brexit.
However, commentators were quick to point out the price cut showed Wetherspoon was able to charge customers less while the UK is in EU.
Mr Martin said: “At the current time customers and businesses pay tariffs on thousands of products which are imported from outside the EU.
“These tariffs are collected by the UK government and sent to Brussels. Provided we leave the customs union on October 31, the government can end these protectionist tariffs, which will reduce prices in supermarkets and pubs.
“In order to illustrate this point, Wetherspoon has decided to reduce the price of Ruddles bitter, brewed by Greene King.
“A lot of politicians have misled the public by suggesting leaving the customs union would be a ‘cliff edge’ or ‘disaster’. This is the reverse of the truth. Ending tariffs will reduce prices.”
Mr Martin, whose pubs made profits of £50.3m in the six months to January, has previously hit out at “negative economic forecasts” about Brexit and insisted leaving the EU without a deal would lead to lower prices for customers.
But his position is at odds which much of the hospitality sector. UK Hospitality, an industry lobby group, has warned tariffs will rise when the country leaves the EU and said earlier this year a no-deal Brexit would be “dreadful news”.
Last week cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted food prices may go up if the UK crashes out without a deal.
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, told MPs this week that prices rises would be caused by a slump in the pound following a no-deal Brexit.
