Pub chain giant Wetherspoon has been branded "socially irresponsible" for displaying anti-lockdown messages from its newsletter in the window of one of its outlets.

The move has angered a town councillor who says the posters "play down" the seriousness of the infection when Swale is suffering especially high numbers of cases.

Cllr Hannah Perkin spotted the newsletter pages posted in the window of the Leading Light Wetherspoon in Faversham today and posted her anger on Twitter.

"This is especially dangerous in Swale where we have some of the highest rates in the country," she wrote.

"This is socially irresponsible and not the way out of tier three."

Cllr Perkin is vice-chair of Swale Lib Dems, a Swale Borough and Faversham town councillor and describes herself on Twitter as a 'sci-fi nerd, vegan, feminist, mum-of-two'.

She told KentOnline: "Swale's rates are still quite high and I think its concerning when public health experts are telling us that we really should be abiding with government guidelines.

"Messages saying that coronavirus is not impactful as others are saying aren't particularly helpful."

She added: "I worked in hospitality for most of my adult life and I totally understand the concerns the trade has because it's been an incredibly difficult year for them.

"But the best thing we can do to get out of tier three is to socially distance and look after each other to get the infection rate down."

In his response to areas of the country being placed into Tier 3, pub boss Tim Martin recently said: "The disturbing evidence from the “frontline” is that the constant changes are putting enormous and unfair pressure on pub managers and staff - these are the people who have to implement the rules and explain them to customers.

"Many report that sensible explanations are impossible, because the rules are so contradictory and absurd, especially in view of expenditure of tens of millions of pounds on Covid-19 safety measures by the industry.

"Two statistics stand out. One is that lockdowns simply don’t work, as most medics and scientists know. For example, Peru locked down in military style, but has had a higher mortality rate than Brazil, which didn’t lockdown. Sweden hasn’t locked down and has a lower mortality rate than England, which has locked down twice.

"The second astonishing statistic is that the overall mortality rate in the UK this year, from all causes, is no higher than four years of the last 20, yet we did not lockdown then, nor was it ever proposed.

"The world’s foremost expert in these areas of analysis is often regarded as John Ioannidis of Stanford University, who has calculated that the risk of Covid-19, for those under 70, is half that of flu.

"Yet the country is destined for many more months of lockdowns, quasi-lockdowns and regulations, causing havoc and misery, until the government persuades the majority of people to accept a vaccine."

Wetherspoon has been contacted for a comment about the posted pages in its pub window.

Swale continues to have the highest rate in England, according to figures published yesterday, with 951 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 9, the equivalent of 633.7 cases per 100,000 people.

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