Brexit: Views from Wales Week In Week Out

A country nursing its wounds, following a divisive EU

Tonight, we ask why did Wales vote to leave the EU?

It's just immigration, as simple as that.

The big thing for me is having control of our own country.

We feel like second class citizens , even in our own country.

We travel to an area where millions of pounds of EU

money has been spent, but the majority voted to leave.

You ve got all these nice things but pointless.

With so much political turmoil, we ask what s the future for Wales?

There s a fundamental lack of trust in politics at moment

and we respond to that not simply through delivering leaflets

Blaenau Gwent, in the south Wales valleys is home to 70,000 people.

In the EU referendum, more people than anywhere else

in Wales voted to leave, including Phil and Julie Hughes.

We made it to America again. For the wrong reasons. Top of the shop for

the worst place to be. The least jobs.

Their home is on the Rassau estate in Ebbw Vale.

They've lived in the town all their lives.

I was really shocked actually on Friday when I got up,

took my breath away, thought oh god, we really have

against the whole of the governance of Europe then.

Phil cares for his wife, Julie, who has motor neurone disease.

A lot of people I have spoken to round here say immigration

problem but that was not the main reason that I voted out.

We are old enough to remember going into it, it wasn t the EU,

it was the common market and that's what we thought it was

A place where it was like having a shop

and everybody had their shop in there and you could go

It didn't include free movement and the laws

they are making that we got no say in.

This area, in common with all of the south Wales valleys,

has had millions of pounds in financial support from Europe.

The county has received a total of ?140 million in EU funding over

the years to halt a spiral of decline and to improve standards

of living with initiatives like this one, a cable-car which links

the town to the site of the former steel works.

EU funds have been spent regenerating Ebbw Vale town centre,

as well as the site of the old steel works.

This is the last remaining relic of that industry.

But after it was razed to the ground, it was replaced

Millions of pounds of EU money has been spent here.

It's aimed at improving the economy, tackling poverty and providing jobs.

There s nothing people can see is being done

apart from the dragon, the clock, the roof, it s

not making a difference to the people yourself.

And that s how we feel up here as well.

We feel like a second class citizens even in our own country, you know.

Whilst 62% of those in Blaenau Gwent said they wanted out

of the EU, what about those who voted to remain?

At this Heads of the Valleys boxing club in Ebbw Vale they believe that

The Blaenau Gwent have voted out and they have the most grants.

I can t understand that they voted out.

We've had the railway station, the railway station come

from Cardiff up to Ebbw Vale, the Heads of the Valley,

It'll be interesting to see what sort of money and grants

Towns in the valleys have faced difficult challenges

since the closure of the pits, and in Ebbw Vale, the steelworks.

Unemployment here stands at 10%, the highest figure in Wales.

A new racetrack, the Circuit of Wales, has promised to bring

6,000 jobs, but work has yet to start.

He hasn't worked since the late 1980s following an accident

underground, and now he cares for his wife.

They both volunteer at the community centre, where today they re helping

Really, there are not a great deal of job opportunities.

Like the new race track that's coming would bring some jobs

in but because we've been let down in this area by so many people

bringing jobs in, people don t believe it s going

When you put your cross in the box did it occur to you that this area

might not benefit from funds in the future?

I didn t just go in and put x in the box, I had long,

Yes we ve had a lot of money in this area but they spent it on things

haven t really had any impact on anywhere.

I know they say about schools and education?

That's a nice by-pass now for Ebbw Vale and they drive

straight past instead of stopping cause nothing's here

Dr Will Davies is a political economist, and he says people often

fail to recognise the link between EU funds and the impact

In some ways knowing your area has received billions, in some ways

is less helpful than to know a particular a few thousand has gone

on infrastructure and subsidy doesn t connect to the life

experiences of people who've witnessed tangible jobs

disappear from either their own families or neighbours.

They've witnessed in areas such as this whole

Blaenau Gwent has been a traditional Labour stronghold.

But at the recent Assembly elections, Plaid Cymru

Both Plaid and Labour campaigned to remain,

so why then did the majority of people here vote to leave?

I'd like to welcome you here on behalf of Tredegar town council

to listen to the Ebbw Vale brass band.

Enjoy the afternoon, thank you.

Jacqui Thomas is the mayor of Tredegar.

She s also the deputy chair of the local Labour Party,

and was involved in trying to win support for the remain vote.

I think people s reasons why they voted to leave is there s

lot of mixed opinions going on and lot of reasons.

If you look at area of BG at the moment we do

Jacqui shows me around her hometown of Tredegar.

The town is a bit tired but I don't know if you ve seen down

by the corner there, Tredegar council and the Blaenau

It's a place where you might argue on this referendum, people

When you look at our community, yes, there aren t a great

deal of opportunities, a great deal of jobs here.

The vote was 52.5% to leave the EU, and 47.5% to remain.

The issue even divided families, like Jacqui s.

I never wanted to join in the beginning.

You voted not to go in the common market?

You re an old Labour supporter aren t you?

I'm a Labour voter, I agree with them but except for that,

There s not enough being done for Wales as it is.

Jacqui, your mum says Labour got it wrong...

I can understand what she's saying in some sense because I think

maybe we could have got a bit more information out there

and a few of the people I've spoken to, I ll be frank with you,

Is this family divided, or would you just agree to differ?

I still love her, and she still loves me.

Like many others, Jacqui s mum says more needs to be done

The Welsh Government says 37,000 new jobs have been created

It plans to set up a new taskforce, aimed at creating more jobs

and improving the quality of people s lives.

The feeling here is that the model of Europe, or elsewhere,

has let us down and failed us and people don t feel they have

anything to lose by rejecting that and I and others were unable

to convince them of that and I regret that and I do today.

What we need to do is look at what resources we have

and the economic policy we are able to follow in Cardiff and look at how

we marshal our resources to address poverty and deprivation

And I hope I can play a part in that and WG will continue to do that.

One of the reasons people say they voted out in the referendum

was because of their concern about immigration.

Here in Blaenau Gwent, the actual numbers are the lowest

Just 2% of the population, or 1,500 people living

I went along to ask people what swayed them to vote

and immigration came up again and again.

in this area, in Ebbw Vale, voted by a majority to leave?

I don t know, can't speak for everybody, but I would have

thought that's mostly to 'o with immigration and they re afraid

that people are coming in and taking their jobs.

People who voted out voted out because they thought it would solve

Concerns about immigration were echoed by some

Like, all the factories at the top they are full

The Poles have come to find work and the argument

Yeah, I know, but it makes it harder competition for us.

We should have first right, it s our country.

I'm hoping by being out there will be a better

At the moment being in EU, they are taking so much

I notice that when the immigrants come over they always work

for a cheaper price than what us British do.

Across the country there s evidence that the areas where people express

greatest anxiety about immigration tend to be areas

without particularly high levels immigration.

The idea of new people coming to places where

don t seem to be appearing is understandably frightening

phenomenon and something you hear from areas such as this,

people expressing fears of immigration and even if evidence

immigration is there, hasn t yet materialised.

So, immigration d'esn t actually touch many people s lives directly

in most communities in the south Wales valleys.

But the same can t be said to be true here in Wrexham.

There are some eight and a half thousand people

born abroad living here, more than six per cent

One of the highest immigration levels in Wales.

Monika and Wojciech have lived in Wrexham for 13 years.

They met in the town after moving here from Poland.

The number of Polish people living in Wales jumped from 15 hundred

to 18,000 in the years after Poland joined the EU,

according to figures from the Census.

Monika, who has set up her own business, has invited me

When I came to the UK first time I just want to stay one year or so,

but then I met my partner and we loved it here.

We've got a family and we want to be part of the UK.

There are people who voted because, not individuals,

they were concerned with numbers and scale of immigration I spoke

with some friends of mine because when I came to the UK

in 2003 it was already a lot of Polish people

So I think it should be stopped for that reason.

Yeah but not because they're leaving EU, just to control that I think.

Monika believes immigration needs to be controlled - but how

"That s when your dreams all come true.

In Wrexham, people voted by 59% to 41% to leave the EU.

I'm going to meet members of a local golf club, to find out how they

I live in a little village called Rossett and we ve got two schools,

a primary school and a secondary school, and they re

The doctors surgeries are the same and the Wrexham

So we ve got a lot of Polish people in the area.

They're brilliant, they're good anything against them.

There are people who would say that you re tending

towards a xenophobic attitude there.

I've got nothing against people coming here to work.

Fine, but you know we can only take so many.

I work for a European firm which is based all over the EU,

Spain - Airbus, and I voted for job security really.

I just think at the moment all these outers, including the government,

didn't have a plan and now they are out they still

I think it's immigration as simple as that.

Have you thought about it since? have you?

One of those who helped campaign for a leave vote in north Wales

The campaign we ran, we had supporters from Labour,

Conservative, Independents, people who d never shown any

What was the thing that brought that coalition

They just feel that we don't have control of our future as long

There s a genuine feeling that people that make rules

living on separate planet to people on ground.

That was my perception immigration did come up time and time again

but wasn t a racist thing, it was numbers.

I'm an engineer; if we planning a new factory we d have to plan how

many people we could accommodate and have to plan the drains

and power and water supply and accommodation to match it

and none of the main parties are offering anything like that.

So we are clear about it, do you have a fundamental dislike

I've told you I worked in Poland in 70s - wonderful,

wonderful people, my wife s family was Greek

Tell me" We getti"g there? we done it.

At this care home immigration - and the free movement

Mario Kreft employs 800 people at a number of care

homes across north Wales, including this one in Wrexham.

About 30% of his staff come from overseas - including

He's worried the Leave vote may impact on his

We have thousands of nurses short in Wales, the NHS is struggling

with nurses and we are actually about to bring in some

Italian nurses and worried are they going to look at this

referendum result and say actually not quite fancying that,

People working in social care have lot very high qualities,

real skills, not necessarily skills you learn at university.

Tell me about you where are you from?

Portugal, I ve been here 12 years in February.

Really happy with where I live, in work they all treat me

There is no difference in between? My family is here,

my 2 sisters and my mum and dad and I ve got fella and my daughter

This is home for me now, lived here longer than I ve lived

What was effect of referendum vote for you then?

I feel this is home for me now, so I feel a bit rejected

the fact they ve come out of the UE (!) in a way.

"What I want to do in the first instance is offer as much

reassurance as I can in a relative uncertain time.

Last week, the Welsh Secretary was meeting constituents to answer

questions on what Brexit means for Wales.

So, what does Westminster plan to do about immigration?

It's too early to 'ome to a clear position, we haven t

concluded our discussions cos we need to understand where other

But we wouldn t disclose our position completely either cos

in terms of negotiating process we would want to hold things back

in terms of striking that deal at vital time.

Prominent Leave campaigners UKIP have been highlighting the issue

of immigration for years, but their leader in Wales insists

they concentrated on other issues during the referendum.

The focus of message I gave was on getting back our democracy,

If they voted to leave solely on immigration then I m sure that it

reasons why they voted but I don t believe that is the reason why

Much bigger picture, much bigger message and the message

we gave time after time after time was that bit about control,

not just control of immigration, control of our taxes,

where they're spent, control of our laws and control

Back in Blaenau Gwent, I m going to meet a company boss

who s looking forward to having more control over the way

The name of your company is M Europe Ltd and yet

M Europe was a name thought up when we started the company.

We do have a European connection in the fact we re still purchasing

Some of the manufacturing parts are in Europe,

my view in life is that one - I'm, British first and Welsh second.

The trouble I find in this country is that everyone

wants to be individual countries, individual sections.

Being run by civil servants who have no concept of what we want in this

country and I m totally proud of the fact that this country can

survive by itself, without the assistance of Europe,

You ve got apprentices and the money that pays for those

apprenticeships is European is it not?

We contribute I think 60% of their wages for year one.

There s a small subsidy which would happen in most

organisations? T: Yeah but that s European money,

which you're not going to get in future.

The point is European money - this is the other thing that

annoys me: this is British money, no matter what anyone says it s not

This is British money that has gone to Europe and is coming

And Mike s not on his own, in believing Britain is better

Jacqui s still trying to understand why her party s remain message

Today, she's at her sister s in Tredegar.

Wendy why did you decide to vote leave?

For me it's a multitude of reasons but the big thing is having control

back of our country. So, to have 28 people we never chose

how our laws are changed, how our food should look,

We need control back in this country.

We need our government to fight for jobs bringing them

cos 'hat s the one place that s been let down,

I know there's been investment from the EU it was a massive

decision for me make but I think at the end of the day

we've got a better chance of making our own trade deals we now

But without EU fun'ing there's a lot of investment that s

Hang on - we are spending over ?13b a year in EU all countries

going to jump in on board that s more money we are going to be

spending - keep that money in UK, go to the Welsh Government,

Wendy s frustration with the EU is shared on the nearby Rassau

There is no opposition as far as I can see in Parliament,

no opposition for this country in Brussels - they just seem

to swallow everything that's given to them and I think that s upsetting

a lot of people that they feel like somebody else is

Clearly something has been simmering in this country for a long time -

much longer than most politicians and policy makers have been aware,

which is a frustration, a sense of alienation

that the decision makers - the elites - are oblivious

to the local reality of how the economy and policy effects

And it s this disconnect between the main political parties

and local communities which Jacqui has been reflecting on, nearly four

Politics as a whole in this country, if we re going to move forward, has

Politicians the length and breadth have got to start

Not just people like myself who are Labour members -

but the average Joe in the street, the everyman in the street,

when you speak to them and their concerns.

We seem to have lost this connection over the years and I don t know how.

Senior figures in the Labour party in Wales accept

We need to recognise that there's a fundamental lack of trust

in politics at the moment and we respond to that not simply

through delivering leaflets but through substance.

One of the problems in this area notably the circuit of Wales,

which doesn t seem to be any closer to getting off the drawing board.

We've been promised a lot of different things by different

I think if you want to draw lessons from it, instead of focusing on one

individual project, the lesson would be that people don t

Promises I made during the referendum campaign

And I think people feel they have lost so much over the years,

whether it's the mines or the steelworks, they don t

believe promises anymore and there's a deep rooted cynicism

It leaves me feeling I have to work harder feeling I have to articulate

things in ways I haven t in the past.

Plaid Cymru wanted to stay in the EU.

They're now asking what the future will look like for

But why didn't their remain message get across in some areas?

Everybody has to take a bit of the responsibility but don t

think blaming people now is going to solve anything

for the future, quite frankly And so yes that is a failure

of the political establishment but also something we need to assess

now and talk to people about how to move on from this.

We would like Wales to have more powers, we would like to be more

autonomous in a European setting, we would like now for a situation

to change where we have potentially looking at structural

funding in a different way and if there are schemes in future

how people can be consulted better on them.

What all politicians are agreed on is that Wales

The Welsh Government is pressing the UK Government to give Wales

the same amount of funding it was due to have received

The UK government has told us they can t guarantee any

of the existing funding let alone additional funding and First

Minister has said there's additional ?650m hole in the Welsh budget.

And the First Minister has been very clear in the last few weeks,

saying the UK government now has responsibility to ensure that

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns told us he will work

with the Welsh Government to get the best deal for Wales,

though he can t guarantee that Wales will receive the equivalent amount

Too early to say let's just switch one source of funding from Europe

to another source funding say from Westminster.

That misses the point 'cause those areas of Wales voted the strongest

to leave the EU were very often those areas that gained

That tells us those policies or funding schemes

We're in danger of measuring inputs rather than outputs.

I think more innovative, more direct way that we can develop

Prime Minister Theresa May met with First Minister

She says she wants the Welsh Government to be involved

In Blaenau Gwent - and the rest of Wales - this has been

The question is what will it mean for our nation in future?

Nobody would be happy in a situation of uncertainty.

I think it will take quite a few years and things will settle down.

An old analogy which we used to use underground, I don t want

a lot of money but I'd like to have the difference

between marge and butter, you know, and that s what I would like to see

Let s look at how we're going to fund communities up

Let s see how we can get investments, get jobs here,

get people reinvigorated, give them hope again.