A man walks into a pro-EU bar...

... and it's Express reporter ADAM TOMS who's in The European, a former Wetherspoon pub under new management after a continental refurbishment. But will he want to Leave?

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ENTERING a typical Wetherspoon pub can be an assault on the senses. Thanks to their cheap drinks, high footfall and convivial atmosphere, it is a cacophony of noise that hits you first before the sweet smell of spilt beer on the chain’s famously sticky carpets.

But when I enter “The European” in Leyton, east London, all I can detect is a whiff of ideological change. The Victorian establishment had been a straight-up boozer called The Drum run by Brexiteer Sir Tim Martin’s company. But following a £350,000 refurbishment by its new owners, it’s now a pro-European safe-space.

Aside from the pub’s brand-new pro-EU sign — unmissable with its circle of 12 gold stars on a royal blue background — my first impressions are that this is your typical gastropub and a blackboard proclaiming: “We're not saying it’s the best roast in Leyton... but we’re also not saying it isn’t,” backs this up.

But it soon becomes clear more is afoot than the establishment’s gleaming new floorboards. The walls are adorned with prints celebrating European culture. Dating from the Renaissance to 20th-century French nightlife, they include Matisse, Monet and a portrait of Italian Renaissance statesman Lorenzo de’Medici.

Picking up a menu, I note charred leeks, duck and chicken parfait among the selection. Grilled octopus is offered as a starter along with coq au vin pie, fire-roasted cauliflower and confit duck leg for a main. It’s hardly your standard Wetherspoon fare.

I’m eager to know what’s behind this six-figure transformation. Is it politics? Gentrification? Perhaps even a cynical attempt to upgrade the clientele?