PRESTATYN, Wales — When farmers, business leaders and politicians met in north Wales to discuss what Brexit meant for their community, there was barely any mention of immigration — the very issue that dominated the referendum campaign across Britain.
One man did stand up to air his worries over the unfettered movement of migrants from the rest of Europe which he blamed for losing his job. But the others responded by simply rolling their eyes and quickly moving on to the next point.
Most of those assembled by a British parliamentary committee in a cinema in the seaside town of Prestatyn had come to discuss their concerns about their future outside the European Union, not to revisit the arguments that led to Britain’s vote in June to leave the bloc.
Their response is part of a trend emerging across the country, according to opinion polls, with the immigration fears that loomed so large before the referendum being overtaken by concerns over what Brexit will mean for everyday life.
In the monthly Ipsos MORI/Economist Issues Index, which asks about 1,000 people across the country “What are the most important issues facing Britain,” the EU and the terms of Britain’s exit led at 39 percent in November - above immigration on 35 percent.
A month earlier, immigration was at 36 percent, with the EU and Brexit at 32 percent, while in June — during the run-up to the vote — immigration was at 48 percent with the EU at 32.
This shift in public concerns could offer some respite to Prime Minister Theresa May as she prepares for negotiations on Britain’s exit from the 28-nation bloc.
She has been under immense pressure to curb free movement of people from Europe to Britain but will face fierce opposition from Brussels negotiators as she seeks at the same time to retain access to the bloc’s trade and financial markets.
Should the talks boil down to a trade-off between accepting a degree of movement of people from the EU in return for preferential access to the single market, as widely expected, any relaxation of public pressure on immigration could help free the government’s hand at the negotiating table.
Gideon Skinner, research director at Ipsos MORI, told Reuters it was still too early to say whether fears about how Britain will manage outside the EU will continue to stay high as “concern about immigration will be partly dependent on the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations.”
But he added: “It is certainly the case that concern about Brexit has increased significantly from the beginning of this year.”
Poverty, and frustration with a distant political and financial elite in London and Brussels, drove many in Wales to vote to leave the EU. For most of the 45 people meeting in Prestatyn this month, sitting before whiteboards and listing their priorities for a future outside the bloc, the most pressing concern was money.
They wanted to know whether EU funding, or subsidies, which they say have helped transform Wales and are vital to one of the poorest regions in the bloc, will be matched by the government.
“They (pro-Brexit campaigners) said subsidies would go up, but that’s all up in the air again,” said Peter Morton, a local city councilor, to nervous laughter. — Reuters
