“Everybody thought the EU was about people coming into the country … no-one told of us the benefits”.

But the UK was providing this funding to the EU and the EU was choosing what to do with it.

How could remain build a campaign based on EU funded projects when the UK paid in more money than it got back?

"Here look how lucky we are - the EU takes our money and lets us have some of it back - have a sausage roll and celebrate!"

My MIL voted for Brexit because she didn't like "...the Germans telling us what to do after we beat them in the war".

Every now and then she has a moan about something or other that wouldn't be happening if we were still in the EU.

I'm afraid I can't resist pointing out that she voted for this.

Brexit could have worked out massively to our advantage as a nation, however a combination of incompetent politicians of both colours, and the financial devastation of covid, conspired against that.

Going forward, we are in a civilisational decline, that won't reverse, AI will be taking all the comfy WFH jobs, leaving thousands un-employed and with no bread, whilst China et al have cornered the industrial market.

This will also be a picture across Europe going forward - best la vie, nowt that can be done now!

Instead, it felt like Cameron et al truly believed that if they told the UK how to vote, everyone would just toe the line.

Camerons cowardice will be a bookmark in future histories. Similar to Chamberlain with none of the redeeming points.

EU funding is another name for UK funding so maybe the UK have decided to pump money into other areas too which need it.

The EU used to choose who we could fund but now it’s our choice and bear in mind we had these poor areas whilst it was compulsory for us to fund areas in Poland, Ireland, Spain etc.

The construction workers went to Germany to earn money, which they sent back to their families.

People are complex FIL was one of those builders in 80s and voted leave. IL got hit by travel restrictions and such coming in as well.

There area actually had an uptick - more middle class people moving in though they tend to drive or use public transport more so local shops were closing still or hadn't re-opened. Even FIL thought the eastern building trade workers were good and had better attitude than many UK one and his mate rented houses to some and they were great tennants.

I think the remain said ran a poor campaign and leave ran better one but made it about way more than the EU more about general dissatisfaction and Remain are still tapping into that and that is a worry.

Yeah, well aphorisms about turkeys voting for Christmas come to mind.

This whole subject was thoroughly discussed at the time, but people in those kind of deprived communities were much more concerned about immigrants taking "their" jobs, "their" council houses, "their" children's school places, etc than they were about EU funding for development projects.

This is the Reform message isn't it?

One of the benefits of EU membership was the freedom of movement of goods and services. It was fairly ignored by vast swathes of the UK population - even though it was the main tenet of a very popular TV programme back in the days of 4 channels only. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet showed what that movement meant.

The construction workers went to Germany to earn money, which they sent back to their families. And when the economy in the UK improved they went back. Remember all the Polish plumbers? Were we still in the UK for sure some of them would still be in the UK. But due to EU investment in Poland it has become an attractive place to live and work, and a lot of the Polish workers (not just plumers) would have gone back home. Incidentally, countries like Poland which have been in net receipt of EU funding, who are now more prosperous and expected to pay in more and receive less to fund newer, less well off entrants, are grumbling about their own versions of Brexit. Hmmmm.

And i know a lot of people voted for Brexit "to give the government a black eye" several (ex)friends looked me in the eye and said that, even though they knew it would be a huge upheaval for me. No "oh sorry, Bref, but that's how i feel" just glee that they would be punching the PM on the nose. And of course i don't expect my friends to vote in my interests over theirs, but it was an interesting visit (3 weeks before the referendum)

Another thing i heard from people - and be sure, i talked about the referendum to just about everyone i came across on that visit - was simply "i'm voting to get the foreigners out" and they sometimes meant all foreigners (the plumbers etc) and brown people. But more often it was brown people. People who don't look like us and weren't born here (even the ones who don't look like us and are 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation immigrants).

Do you think ANYONE listened to us saying: yes, a lot of immigrant populations are voting for Brexit because they want more visas for people from their original countries, to make it easier to bring family over (often aging parents, but also siblings, cousins etc). And why wouldn't they?

Brexit was far too complicated for the nasty misinformation that lots of campaigning was based on. For people who weren't doing well, economically, were bound to vote for change, people who were doing ok or who were more informed about what the EU does (including many many UK citizens in EU countries, who were not allowed to vote) were more or less bound to vote to remain. Vastly wealthy business owners were often more likely to vote leave because they believed it would open more lucrative markets and didn't need EU trade to make money. Others realised their trade was mainly EU and they wanted to stay.

And then the third of people - the fuckers - who didn't vote at all. Pretty much rendering the whole thing meaningless (and it wouldn't have mattered which way the result went, the fact that one third of people had no opinion should have been a huge red flag). The referendum should have been a qualified majority, and the fact it wasn't is the biggest scandal here, for me. (as well as outside interference)

But again: it is what it is. We all need to work for a better future. And that should be one that doesn't consign the regions to industrial wastelands and shantytowns of internal economic migrants all over the south east.

The EU appeals to tax and spend, centre left middle classes and people who like having a second home in France or want their children to do a ski season. If that isn't your thing, it won't appeal any more than the pro EU bunch would want a close union with Trump's America.

Having worked in marketing/advertising for 20 years, I remember thinking that the remain campaign was woefully inadequate. There should have been an EU flag flying from every EU-funded project, street parties celebrating what that funding had achieved, information going out to everyone pointing out the specific EU-funded local projects that benefited them.

Instead, it felt like Cameron et al truly believed that if they told the UK how to vote, everyone would just toe the line. They came across as the smug, entitled elite that they were. Johnson, Farage and co saw a power vacuum and filled it with a stories about underdogs and bulldog spirit that turned out to be bollocks. In the end, the remain campaign only had themselves to blame.

Nope, the money has gone, billions spent in prepping customs, paper work for Brexit, 100s of billions lost in trade/GDP and in having to deal in the delays (cost) of continuing trade with the EU.

Even our supposed trade deals are either the same as we had or worse & we still have to abide by EU rulings, we cannot go out on a limb, Brexit has also led to some drug shortages too, as manufacturers prioritise the larger market and 2nd tier ours.

I'm no fan of Thatcher but anyone who thinks being in the EU is a bad idea, should listen to her arguments on being in the Single Market, a SM she helped to design.

The BBC did a program with ex Lib dem leader went to welsh town that voted overwelming leave and asked questions.

They knew the local college offer course for young people had been paid for partly with EU money they didn't care - fact it kept young people around they didn't care. They cared about lack of GP - nothing to do with EU - and other stuff not to do with EU - and when they was pointed out the shrugged and moaned more.

I don't think it's about logic - it's about feelings - feeling town people have been left behind - wanting change any change - that the wave Trump rode on in US.

I'm in Wales and Labour supporting voters have attacked me for pointing out 20 + years of labour government see little benefit - they lost loads of reasons why that's fine - why it's okay NHS and Eduction wholly devolved have worse outcome than rest of UK. Now polls look dicy and suddenly they've remembered we are here and we get ads and door knocks and talk of more money.

Poltical parties used to go to voters work out what they wanted - what they might be able to do and then sold themselves on idea they'd do it. Now I don't rate what Reform are promising or their ablity to do anything if they got power but they have managed to do what poltical parties used to do - work out what a section of populous want and sell themselves as capable of doing that - instead of whining voters are thick of stupid or should just automatically vote for them.

OK we agree then. I don't understand why slavery was brought into it. Perhaps that person can explain ... or preferably never mention it again as it makes no sense.

Yes, I agree (my working class parents in Kent were 'oh, it's all 'project fear' & we need to get on top of immigration, that's the cause of all our problems..)

• but ...

Look what has happened in the USA. Folk who voted Trump in twice.
Do they 'deserve' what they get? What about those who didn't vote for him ?
What about what it is doing to the reputation of US globally?
What it is doing to reduce democracy & embolden other dictators?

Farage is not Trump. But he'd like to be.
Watch his words. He is apeing Trump as closely as he dares pre election.
Afterwards, if he wins (or even if he forms the Opposition this time, wins next)
the gloves will be off.
ALL communities will be worse off under Nigel except a few of his rich mates.
The poorest will feel it worst. Plus the Disabled. Women. Those on benefits etc.

We're still destroying our industries - steel by net zero and high energy costs. It seems we aren't concerned about the emissions we cause if we buy our steel from China which is ridiculous.

Our car manufacturing is being destroyed by mandated % of electric vehicles which people can't afford- and how are the Government "helping" by slapping more tax on non-electruc vehicles so they are less affordable too.

Government policy is destroying industry quicker than Brexit ever could.

Obviously I am not as I am agreeing with you that the slavery comment is beyond weird. Slavery and industry are at two different ends of the stick.

Brexit never made sense as a racist thing. I am sure I read about British Asian communities voting for Brexit because the pink europeans would have to go home and the brown commonwealth people would take their place. I mean that would also be racist but not the way Brexit is usually portrayed.

In reality it was a non-serious indicative vote that was bandwaggoned by the people who least believed in it for personal career gain, and because it really was never going to happen those campaigning for the wrong reasons were the only ones really campaigning until way too late.

Are you the poster who brought slavery into the discussion? I can't be bothered to scroll back that far. My point was that slavery has nothing to do with any of this. Do you/that poster want to revert to a pre slavery, pre industrial economy? Before or after the Enclosures? Before or after the feudal system?

I live in an area that’s deprived.

The mines and mills shut years ago. I have a lovely neighbour who is 100 this year. Her Father was an engineer in one of the mills. One of the volunteers in the shop I also volunteer in that’s in her eighties had generations of her male relatives down the pit.

Manufacturing and industry died years ago. It really can't compete with how cheap everything is overseas a lot of which is to do with standards and health and safety. Brexit has caused issues but it’s so much more than that.

I imagine the people living in areas mentioned in this article might have leaned towards Brexit. Open borders brought large numbers into areas that were already poor, and caused huge tensions. David Blunkett, the Sheffield MP raised concerns years before. I wonder how many Remainers lived in places like these?

This Guardian article is some years old, but a couple of weeks ago several arrests were made after more street violence in the Page Hall district of Sheffield.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/03/roma-tire-shouldering-blame-boiling-pot-communities

Maybe even, shudder, working class people can look at policies like an efficient civil service, secure borders and prosecuting criminals and think "Yeah I could vote for that"?

Wasn't 'EU money' our own UK money? We paid in billions and they handed back amounts for certain projects ie the one the OP mentions. They chose the project and put a nice blue plaque up to tell us where UK EU money had been awarded.

Not sure what slavery has to do with industry bearing in mind that slave owning societies were mainly agricultural. One of the prerequisites of an industrialised society is having customers with money to whom you sell your wares. Whole swathes of society who are basically chattel and don´t own anything aren´t good news for industry.