Just 300 days into the chancellorship of Rachel Reeves, one senior pub figure has claimed that the wheels have already come off, and that the country’s economy is “teetering on the edge of oblivion”. William Lee-Jones is probably not voting Labour in this week’s elections.

The managing director of family-owned brewery and pub company JW Lees has launched a withering attack on the chancellor of the exchequer, claiming that she is “taking the UK into a financial crash.” 

William Lees-Jones followed up a Radio 4 appearance on the BBC Today programme last week with a post to LinkedIn in which he argued that Rachel Reeves has “lost control” amidst “unprecedented public sector borrowing” despite declines in both VAT revenue and corporation tax revenue.

Lees-Jones said he used his radio appearance to underline the £650m hit the British brewing and pub sector had been forced to absorb as a result of the policies of the Autumn Budget: highlighting how the average profit derived from the sale of a pint for £4.80 was a paltry 12 pence. 

The MD, who represents the seventh generation of Lees to helm the company since its founding by John Lees in 1828, claimed these razor-thin margins had pushed hospitality “to the wall,” and pointed to BBPA data suggesting that nearly a third (31 per cent) of UK hospitality businesses are at risk of imminent failure.

“The government is not listening to anyone at the moment,” he wrote. “The economy is teetering on the edge of oblivion and the businesses who will create jobs, fund investment and build businesses are making cuts whilst entrepreneurs are leaving the UK in droves.”

“The data keeps coming back and proving that the government has lost control,” he added. “We’re heading for cuts and austerity…not the growth that was promised at the election.”