To be astonished that wales voted to leave the EU

[ExecutiveFiat]

it’s one of the poorest regions in Europe.- not just in the Uk. It has received millions in investment, it will be fucked (like the NE and Cornwall) after brexit.
Just had a weekend in Cardiff, where I witnessed Brexit party supporters intimidating a polish couple on the street. I won’t be going again in a hurry. !! I know it was one incident, but i’m Shocked and dismayed 😨.

The brexit debate is so polarised that both sides struggle to understand each other. My impression though is that generally those areas that voted out have seen economic decline under the EU, wether or not the same would have happened without the EU is a separate matter. From the view of the welsh pre EU they had a reasonable coal and steel industry with a viable farming sector, now they have a bit of tourism.

YANBU.

I live part time in Wales and have seen the deprivation first hand, especially in the valleys. I can't for the life of me fathom why they voted leave, it really just doesn't make sense.

Cardiff actually voted about 60% remain!

I witnessed Brexit party supporters intimidating a polish couple on the street

That's awful, hope someone called the police (not saying that you personally should have got involved - I understand that personal safety has to come first).

But that has nothing to do with the EU ASD? How on earth do the welsh think they are going to benefit by being outside the EU.?
I hadn’t been to Cardiff for a few years. I was a bit shocked and saddened tbh.

Working on the assumption you genuinely are struggling to understand, OP, I’ll try to explain as best I can. I’m hoping it isn’t a wide eyed attempt to denigrate those who elicited to vote Leave.

To put this as simply as I can, being in the EU is beneficial to the middle classes. To those who need to employ others, whether that’s as a business owner or as someone looking for a cleaner or a nanny, it’s enormously beneficial to have a large and willing workforce there and available.

This same benefit is not one that works if you are poor. If you are poor, you are disadvantaged by the increase of labour coming from abroad. You will not benefit from many of the EUs benefits and even if it has invested in your town or city, this may not extend to you as an individual. In fact, you may not actually like the change.

I voted remain. I’d love it if we stayed in the EU. But I do understand some of the reasons people had for voting to leave.

Depending on where you live in the U.K. there is a good chance that Cardiff is a more "remain-y" place than where you live normally.

There have been racist attacks on Europeans in London, which voted heavily remain. Don't judge a city by a few turquoise dickheads.

There's a lot of deprivation and lack of aspiration in Wales, I think that led to people just voting for change, without really knowing what the reality of Brexit is. (I realise it pisses off brexiteers when remainers say that people didn't really know what they were voting for, but imo it's true).

Freedom of movement doesn't really mean much when you barely leave your own town, let alone your country. Add to that an influx of immigrants who do a better job of the little amount of unskilled work that's available, and it was inevitable that people would vote to cut off their noses to spite their faces.

When you’re already living in poverty and despair you have nothing to lose. And when the PM who is responsible for your struggle is telling you it’s better to remain you want to tell him to fuck off. And voting leave seems a legit way to do that. Not saying all leave voters voted leave for that reason btw. Also both campaigns were run so fucking badly it’s no wonder we’re in this mess.

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/leave-supporting-llanelli-left-reeling-as-manufacturing-industry-moves-out-due-to-brexit/08/11/

It’s bloody stupid. The hypocrisy and naivety is outstanding.

Also not saying all of those living in deprived areas voted leave! Plenty voted remain.

YANBU. But I can see how and why it has happened. We live in an area of North East Wales that has benefited hugely from EU investment. Most of the employment is industrial which relies on the Holyhead route to Ireland. So leaving will do us damage.

But our area voted to leave. It's a cheap place to live with mainly unskilled labour available. So it does attract a lot of immigrants. Which has had an impact on schools, housing, doctors etc. The conditions are absolutely perfect for anti-EU feeling to flourish.

Considering that I live in North East WALES, our town has a branch of the English Defense league. Which kind of explains the intelligence behind it all.

I live in quite a deprived area of Wales that would be much, much more deprived if it wasn't for the EU so I don't get it either

good god Pardon. Stupid doesn’t even cover it!

Wtf are the EDL doing in Wales and why are they allowed. Aren’t they banned?

Hedge, absolutely.

"here I witnessed Brexit party supporters intimidating a polish couple on the street.".

How on earth did you know the demographics of either party? Did everyone have a badge on for your convenience?

As a complete aside, I heard lots of welsh being spoke in Cardiff. It was lovely to hear it.

Wheres the stats for this please? Ie how do we know what Wales voted?

I’m in Wales, not in one of the deprived areas though. I would say that 95% of the people I’ve spoken to voted remain. I don’t understand why anyone in Wales would vote leave when there has been so much funding from the EU. One ‘leaver’ said that we were paying out far more to the EU than we were getting back, but I don’t think that’s true. Does anyone know where we can find the figures for this?

Pot noodle I think the giveaway was the banner saying Brexit now, and the fact that the couple obviously not speaking English were called polish scum!!

Nope, I don't get it either.

I work in the Valleys and have many friends there.

There's a sense amongst Valleys people that they're being overrun by foreigners who are taking their jobs. This is not helped by the fact that there are very few jobs anyway.

There's been lots of investment in and around the Valleys over the years and a big infrastructure project ongoing at the Heads of the Valleys to improve the road. God knows what'll happen to that now.

The OP's experience of Cardiff doesn't sound great. I'm surprised at that and I've never seen anything similar myself.

@51ExecutiveFiat

Do you know cardiff well enough to say where abouts this was? A lot of my friends live there and I'll give them a heads up to be aware of this sort of shit in case someone needs defending from it

There was an article in the MSM last week that identified the demographic of much of the Leave vote in Wales as being retired English people who had relocated to Wales. Obviously that's less likely to be true of the Valleys vote which I agree is linked to economic /social alienation but may account for the vote in areas such as North and West Wales

@Caribbeanescape the U.K. is a net contributor, I believe. However what we pay into the pot and get back is only one aspect of EU membership. It's more difficult to calculate the indirect financial benefits, such as car manufacturers basing their factories in the U.K. so they will be able to export to the entire EU tariff free. Or the benefits of the many trade agreements the EU has entered into with non EU countries. These all benefit the UK economy, provide jobs and mean more taxes are paid to the U.K. treasury to be spent on the nhs, road building and all the other things the government spends money on.

Sorry Hedge, don’t know Cardiff that well and I haven’t been for a few years. All I can tell you is that it was near Cardiff castle.