'Let me turn the House of Lords into a Wetherspoons' says boss Tim Martin

Years of neglect have left the Houses of Parliament in a poor state of disrepair. Cost estimates for the cash required to bring Britain’s seat of government back into a reputable state range between £7billion and £13billion. This is without considering the inconvenience the massive renovation project will cause and it has been suggested politicians may need to vacate the grand old buildings for as long as three decades.

The expensive refurbishment comes at a time when the public finances are squeezed more than ever. Pensioners’ winter fuel allowances, longstanding welfare payments and farmers' family inheritances have all been raided to keep the Treasury's finances intact.

However, one man who’d relish the opportunity to remodel the House of Lords for a different purpose than government is Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs.

Speaking exclusively to the Express, Martin said the House of Lords is one of his dream venues to convert into a boozer.

“I went there once. It struck me it would make an excellent pub,” Martin said. “At the heart of the action.”

Wetherspoon has a proven track record of transforming historic buildings, from old courthouses to cinemas and theatres, into drinking establishments.

Martin quipped that the number of pubs inside the Palace of Westminister estate meant transforming the Lords into a boozer wouldn’t be too much of a change.

“We might need to have a noble run the place or have the staff given honours,” he added cheekily.

Martin also revealed in his chat with the Express that he regretted abandoning plans to take Wetherspoon global.

The famous pub chain had identified venues across northern France in Lille, Dunkirk and Calais in the early 2000s but never completed the deals.

“I think we instinctively felt we were getting a bit carried away and maybe the pub is more of a British institution,” the pub boss explained.

“We didn’t have as many pubs as we have now and the profits were lower. So we thought it was a bridge too far. But maybe we were wrong, I look at Starbucks and other people who’ve gone around the world and think well, maybe we were too conservative and British.”

The Wetherspoons boss also detailed the massive impact Rachel Reeves National Insurance hike is set to have on his business.

“It will cost the business £60 million per year, which is about £1,500 per pub a week and £75,000 per anum,” he told the Express. “So it’s a very, very big increase.

“It [will be] much more per pint than the tax increase for supermarkets. But once again it's going to widen the disparity. So I think it’s a mistake.”

Reeves’s NI rise kicks in today and landlords nationwide have warned that the measure will cause a huge number of pubs to close.