The boss of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain has used a half-year earnings report to attack the anti-Brexit “establishment” after company profits plummeted 19 per cent.

Tim Martin said the chain, which operates more than 900 pubs, has seen pre-tax profits drop to £50.3m in the six months to January.

Although revenue increased 7.1 per cent to £889.6m, it was not enough to offset a sharp rise in labour costs following a pay rise for staff in November.

Higher utility bills and maintenance costs also contributed to the fall in profits.

Mr Martin, an outspoken Brexiteer, called for MPs to reject Theresa May’s deal and refuse any option to remain in the EU as he addressed the chain’s profits in the half-year earnings report.

Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Undated handout photo issued by Led by Donkeys of their billboard featuring a blank tweet in Jeremy Corbyn's Islington North constituency in protest over what they claim is his lack of leadership on Brexit. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday February 12, 2019. For the past month, campaign group Led by Donkeys has been putting up posters all over the country featuring quotes mostly from hard-Brexit MPs which claimed the process of leaving the EU would be easy. The Labour leader is the group's latest target because of his failure to back a second referendum on Brexit. See PA story PROTEST Donkeys. Photo credit should read: Led by Donkeys /PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter

“The result has been a barrage of negative economic forecasts from those quarters, predicting that the UK will go to hell in a handcart without a ‘deal’ with the EU — which will effectively tie the country into EU membership and taxation, yet without representation,” he said.

“The doomsters ignore the most powerful nexus in economics, between democracy and prosperity — and the fact that the EU is becoming progressively less democratic, as it pursues an ‘ever-closer union’, for which there is no public consensus.”

Martin (left) has been among the most prominent business leaders to advocate a no-deal Brexit (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

He added: “Previous referendum results on major constitutional issues have always been respected in the UK, but if parliament votes either for Theresa May’s ‘deal’ (which keeps us in the EU by the back door) or to remain in the EU, the referendum result will not have been respected.

“This may well have significant adverse economic consequences, as the country turns in on itself to endure months, or years, of stifling constitutional argument.”

Mr Martin is currently touring Wetherspoon pubs across the country, speaking to punters about why he believes a no-deal Brexit would be Britain’s best option.