The Channel 4 reporter Faisal Islam has visited Sunderland and his report (HERE) in The Guardian makes stunning reading. One woman voted to leave because of the £350m per week going to the NHA and seems genuinely shocked to learn this is a fantasy, even talking about hiring a bus to go and see Boris Johnson.
A man says Nissan will never, ever leave Sunderland because of the workers there. I wish I had his certainty - no doubt the shipyard workers in the fifties felt the same about their jobs. Someone else thinks the shipyards and coal mines will reopen! A woman is expecting cheaper food, gas and oil.
This is in a region that is more dependent on EU funding than anywhere else in England, relies on exports to the EU more per capita than anywhere else and has the smallest proportion of non British residents. Actually, Sunderland has the fastest shrinking population of any UK city with the figure dropping by 8% since the 1980s so they need immigration more than anywhere else. It's an amazing article and well worth reading.
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