Last orders for IMF's Christine Lagarde as Wetherspoon props up Brexit with beer mat campaign

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has printed 200,000 beer mats bearing a message urging its customers to vote 'Leave' at the upcoming EU referendum on 23 June. Tim Martin, the chain's founder and a staunch supporter of the 'Leave' campaign, said that the beer mats put forward a "hard-hitting message" arguing the case for Britain to leave the EU.

The mats, which will be available in Wetherspoon's 920 pubs across Britain, carry a message on both sides focusing on the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Christine Lagarde, the fund's managing director.

"The governance issues within the IMF, are, in my opinion, very serious for UK citizens," Martin said on Tuesday (31 May).

"The government has paraded a number of financial institutions in front of the public, who have, in my view, grossly distorted our financial prospects in the event of a Brexit."

The message on the beer mats also urges UK voters to question whether they should trust Lagarde's stance on a potential Brexit, given she has come out in support of the pro-European movement.

"Corporate governance at the IMF is clearly out of control, and Christine Lagarde would have been obliged to resign at any normal PLC or institution until the matters in question were resolved," Martin added.

"The UK public have been asked to rely on her comments by both George Osborne and David Cameron in the forthcoming referendum, and she must now answer the questions on the beer mats and others that the public may have."