Across the UK, a majority now think Brexit is a bad idea. Only in one constituency are many of the opinion that leaving the EU is the right thing to do. Why is that?
No, admits Anton Dani and puffs out his cheeks, that’s not how he imagined Brexit. “The reality is probably worse than we expected at the time,” says the 57-year-old, gazing out over Boston’s marketplace from his café.
It sounds devastating. But that’s deceptive. The former mayor of the small town in eastern England still thinks Brexit is a good idea. It is only being implemented completely incorrectly by the government in London. Many people in Boston feel like Dani, who is now talking more and more into a rage.
Boston as a Brexit stronghold
Welcome to Brexit City! On Friday (June 23) it was seven years ago that Great Britain voted in favor of Brexit. The result was close. Not in Boston: Here, around 76 percent voted yes, more than in any other city. And while polls have recently seen approval drop to a low, Boston is underpinning its status as a Brexit stronghold.
When the “Unherd” portal confronted people in the country a few months ago with the statement “It was wrong for Great Britain to leave the EU”, there was exactly one constituency in which a majority said no: Boston.
The landscape near the North Sea coast is picturesque, because of the many fields, the region is considered the granary of England. Tractors keep slowing traffic down. Visible for miles is the famous “Boston Stump,” as locals affectionately call their distinctive steeple that towers high above the market town’s lanes. In the church shop, Wendy and Jeanne serve the tourists.
Possible reasons for Brexit support
Are you still for Brexit? But of course, the two older ladies emphasize friendly. The reason: the many foreigners who have moved to Boston in recent years. “I no longer dare to go into town alone in the evenings,” they say.
As you think many. “Reality gives them more reasons, gives them more evidence that they really need Brexit,” says ex-mayor Dani. The supporters of leaving the EU had promised stricter immigration rules – in Boston they are still waiting for it.
The city sees itself as cosmopolitan. Many of the pilgrims who emigrated to America on the “Mayflower” in 1620 came from here. And the city on the US east coast is called Boston because it was co-founded by people from here.
But the people of Lincolnshire are slowly having enough. Once a thriving port city, there has hardly been a negative statistic in recent years that Boston has not cited. It’s the fattest city in the country, the one with the worst integration and the lowest wages – and statistically the one with the most murders.
Many people point to the high influx of migrants. It is mainly people from poorer EU countries who spend the day in groups on the market square, it is said in the pubs. Lured by the once-thriving agricultural economy, some would work for low wages and live in run-down houses, often with too many people in one room.
Between 2011 and 2021, the number of newcomers increased tenfold. In the evenings, they would drink alcohol on the square in front of his café, despite the ban, says Dani, a member of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tory party.
Boston frustration
But the restaurateur insists he bears no grudges. Rather, he feels betrayed by London. The government finds no means against the high number of migrants. In fact, experts point out that since Brexit, for example, there have been no readmission agreements with EU countries for irregular arrivals.
In practice, this has consequences. “Many have the impression that they are strangers in their own city,” says Dani. The municipality remains alone with the worries. No language courses would be offered, no schools would be built, no teachers would be hired. Instead, the range of clinics and the number of neighborhood officers would be reduced.
Illegal waste disposal is increasing, as is shoplifting and drug dealing. “Our town was pretty. Look at it, now it’s junk,” says Dani, pointing his finger somewhere, plaintively.
For the ex-mayor it is clear: The only solution could be “more Brexit”. In fact, not everyone in Boston sees it that way. Tourist guide Jane Keightley sits in the mansion Fydell House and smiles melancholy to herself. “There are so many small-minded people,” she says, taking a deep breath.
“They thought they would just snap their fingers with Brexit – and all migrants would be gone in one fell swoop,” says the woman, who voted to remain in the EU in 2016. “But that’s nonsense. Just like Brexit.”
Brexit implications
Statistics agree with Keightley. Trade with the EU has collapsed. New customs duties and bureaucratic regulations are hampering exchanges with your closest neighbors. According to experts, the participation in the East Asian trade pact CPTPP, which is acclaimed by Brexit friends, hardly outweighs the losses in EU business.
Food prices have risen and real wages have fallen. The extra money promised by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the ailing NHS health service, which could be saved on payments to Brussels thanks to Brexit, never arrived there.
Some of it is also due to the consequences of Corona, the Russian war against Ukraine. But it is obvious to experts that Brexit is a part of much that is going wrong in the country.
“The lives of people across the country – in both the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ areas – are becoming increasingly restricted, cruel and brittle,” commented columnist Matthew Syed recently in the “Sunday Times”. “The nation is caught in a nightmare.”