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

[MrsMurphyIWish]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2136jnjx1o

And the response to this very now deprived community is to vote Reform.

“Brexit has removed a key source of funding, which the area desperately needs. County Durham received £154m of EU funding between 2014 and 2020, about £22m a year. Since the UK left the European Union, it receives about half that amount, £12m annually, under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.”

The story is sad (and typical of deprived areas - I know, I live in one). Towns feeling forgotten and never recovering from closed industry but why can they not see history will repeat itself?

What would you suggest?

People would believe any rubbish or lie Boris said because well he's the "lovely" Boris.

He is one of those people who can charm people into doing a variety of wrong things - like Farage, Mandelson and Trump they have the gift of the gab.

A quick Google brings up the history of Ireland in the EU and this Ireland became a member of the European Communities on New Year’s Day 1973Following General de Gaulle’s resignation on 28 April 1969, European Community enlargement again became possible for Ireland.
It used to be called the Common Market. The UK also joined the Common Market in 1973. I remember writing an essay about it in the 6th Form.

Cornwall used to get billions in EU funding, now it gets around 10% of that.

Sure you can blame it all on Covid and Ukraine but the bottom line is Brexit is now seen as a mistake by the majority.

But what has happened to the £72 billion we have not paid out in EU contributions?

I am not a fan of Brexit. Quite the opposite.

But. We did warn everyone. We were dismissed as Project Fear.

It is now 7 years on and it is way past time to start rebuilding. And yes, the whole Covid thing got in the way, but that was a perfect opportunity for the UK government to test its robustness, and make plans for afterwards.

The regions are always ignored by government, it doesn't matter who is in power. You need better MPs to represent those constituencies.

But also. Brexit has a kind of rat-tail of unexpected/unintended/unanticipated consequences that just keep adding to the issues. A lot of relatively low-level things (paperwork, passports to get in the country etc etc) that are mounting up because they are being drip-fed into everyone's consciousness.

Add in Trump's USA, and it is time the UK started making serious overtures to Europe to work together to make the region stronger. Economically as well as socially. Not to mention defensively.

My aunt lives in the South East, I don´t remember seeing signs there. I stayed at Wallsend near Newcastle during my Erasmus year and the place was chock a block with signs saying this [insert project] is funded by the European regional development fund. My landlady was telling us that there is no way the council could pay for these projects alone. Also, I think it was a sports centre, was funded by Sting, who´s from Wallsend. I wonder how they are doing now.

But what has happened to the £72 billion we have not paid out in EU contributions?

Looks at the £500 billion we have lost in GDP ....

Alternatively, were the community fully informed of the advantages of the EU or did they ignore that information because they were taken in by the fear-mongering of those who used immigration as a wedge issue to push their agenda? If so, why was immigration such a powerful tool in influencing these voters?

So, you honestly believe that manufacturing and selling goods is akin to slavery? That's a very odd point of view.

So a company still doing well in the UK is Numatic, who make Henry Vacuum Cleaners in Somerset. Another in the area OP is talking about is Ebac, who make Washing Machines

Are you honestly suggesting that an activity such as making vacuum cleaners in Somerset, or Washing Machines in County Durham, in 2026, by two companies established in the mid 20th century has anything remotely to do with Slavery?

The will of the people was not ignored,

Brexit happened, the UK left the EU,

that was exactly what people voted for.

The signs were everywhere.

Even the farm up the road that had a grant to put in a café had the signs it was EU funded.

It was a mandatory requirement of receiving funding from the EU.

It's an insane theory. So slavery happened but has been illegal for a very long time do we just abandon all industry now?

Looks at the fact we were performing better economically than the big EU countries until recently.

There are plenty of those signs where I live in the UK. A former mining area.

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.

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.

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"?

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.