‘I’m a fisherman and lifelong Tory who voted Brexit. I won’t vote for them again’
July 1, 2024
‘I’m a fisherman and lifelong Tory who voted Brexit. I won’t vote for them again’
by theipaper
10 comments
PETERHEAD, SCOTLAND – “I certainly wouldn’t vote Tory again. I’ve voted Tory all my life. But everything’s a shambles. After what we were promised in Brexit, I wouldn’t trust a Tory again. I would feel that a large majority of the UK, or the Scottish fishing industry certainly, would feel the same.”
Fisherman James Stephen has been at sea for more than 40 years. Based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, which is home to the largest fishing port in Europe, he voted for Brexit in 2016 in the hope it would give his community a greater share of fishing in UK waters.
But eight years on, he feels he was sold a “pack of lies” and says it has cost the Conservatives his vote at the general election.
“I would say that 99 per cent of the fishing industry would have voted for Brexit in the hope that we could get back control of our waters, rightfully get our share of [fishing] quota which was given away when we joined the EU,” says Mr Stephen.
“I hoped, by voting for Brexit, we could undo some of the unjust that was done to the industry then. But for me, it’s been a total disaster. Nothing we were promised materialised.”
Fishermen were the unwitting poster boys of Brexit, touted by politicians from Boris Johnson to Michael Gove as a key argument in favour of leaving the EU.
Despite comprising just 2 per cent of the UK’s GDP, their circumstances played a major role in Brexit campaigning, with Nigel Farage joining a flotilla of pro-Brexit fishing boats up the Thames and Boris Johnson pledging to give the UK “full control of our waters”.
But fishermen in Peterhead say these promises have been left in tatters.
With just days to go until polls open, i is travelling across the UK to meet some of those most affected by Brexit to find out how life has changed for them – and how this experience might affect their vote on 4 July.
Sitting in a fishermen’s mission in Peterhead, Mr Stephen says he always wondered if the promises made about Brexit for the fishing industry were “too good to be true”.
“We’re such a small part of GDP, but yet we were one of the major arguments in the Brexit story. But when it all came to fruition, it was just a pack of lies we were told. We were led up the garden path.
“We’ve ended up with the crumbs for extra quota, which has been one of the major things. Even the on-shore industry really gets hit by the paperwork we now have to do to export the fish to Europe. So I think for all concerned, to me, it has been a total shambles.”
Red tape on exports has increased dramatically, and the pledge to “take back control” of British waters hasn’t amounted to much for fishermen in Aberdeenshire, Mr Stephen says.
In recent years he has continued to see a “slow, gradual” increase in the number of foreign vessels. Overall, the volume of fish landed by UK ships has decreased steadily since the 80s, while the proportion of fish landed abroad has increased, according to a 2022 Parliamentary briefing.
“We lost some of our markets because we couldn’t supply them, or the fish was being held up. For one truck, it used to go through with one set of paperwork. There are 42 pallets in a truck. Now, each pallet must have its own paperwork,” he says.
While Mr Stephen still maintains that Brexit was the “right thing to do”, saying the UK had too little power within Europe and that fishing rights had been traded in exchange for other markets, he struggles to think of one benefit to his industry.
“The Government will argue we got the extra quota, but what we got was nothing compared to what we’ve seen taking over our waters. They tried to sweeten the deal… but gave us nothing of any use.”
Has he lost money? “Oh, without a doubt. I couldn’t quantify how much. But certainly there’s been no gain. There’s only been pain. I think everybody thinks the same thing. I remember from the first [few months] after Brexit, lorries were sitting waiting to get across. The goods were perishing in lorries, so people lost a lot of money in that respect.”
That’s a lot of words to confirm him as an idiot. The current consequences of Brexit were obvious to a blind monkey so I’ve no sympathy for these folks.
The guy is a mug, pure and simple.
Leave voters: This isn’t the Brexit I voted for
Remain voters: Weird, because this is Exactly the Brexit I voted against
Do these people realize that they’re the actual cause of our current problems? Will they rethink the things they believe? Or will they just vote Tory in five years time?
He’s gonna vote reform. Turkeys, Christmas etc
Mugs like this can cry me a fucking river then drown in it.
Thats what you get when you trust the tories.
Fingers burned and served a turd sandwich.
I dunno man, the cycle of farmers and fishermen seems to be
1. “I’m going to vote for” obvious tory lies.
2. They ignore us begging them not to
3. “The tories lied and now I’m poor, how could this have happened.”
10 comments
PETERHEAD, SCOTLAND – “I certainly wouldn’t vote Tory again. I’ve voted Tory all my life. But everything’s a shambles. After what we were promised in Brexit, I wouldn’t trust a Tory again. I would feel that a large majority of the UK, or the Scottish fishing industry certainly, would feel the same.”
Fisherman James Stephen has been at sea for more than 40 years. Based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, which is home to the largest fishing port in Europe, he voted for Brexit in 2016 in the hope it would give his community a greater share of fishing in UK waters.
But eight years on, he feels he was sold a “pack of lies” and says it has cost the Conservatives his vote at the general election.
“I would say that 99 per cent of the fishing industry would have voted for Brexit in the hope that we could get back control of our waters, rightfully get our share of [fishing] quota which was given away when we joined the EU,” says Mr Stephen.
“I hoped, by voting for Brexit, we could undo some of the unjust that was done to the industry then. But for me, it’s been a total disaster. Nothing we were promised materialised.”
Fishermen were the unwitting poster boys of Brexit, touted by politicians from Boris Johnson to Michael Gove as a key argument in favour of leaving the EU.
Despite comprising just 2 per cent of the UK’s GDP, their circumstances played a major role in Brexit campaigning, with Nigel Farage joining a flotilla of pro-Brexit fishing boats up the Thames and Boris Johnson pledging to give the UK “full control of our waters”.
But fishermen in Peterhead say these promises have been left in tatters.
With just days to go until polls open, i is travelling across the UK to meet some of those most affected by Brexit to find out how life has changed for them – and how this experience might affect their vote on 4 July.
Sitting in a fishermen’s mission in Peterhead, Mr Stephen says he always wondered if the promises made about Brexit for the fishing industry were “too good to be true”.
“We’re such a small part of GDP, but yet we were one of the major arguments in the Brexit story. But when it all came to fruition, it was just a pack of lies we were told. We were led up the garden path.
“We’ve ended up with the crumbs for extra quota, which has been one of the major things. Even the on-shore industry really gets hit by the paperwork we now have to do to export the fish to Europe. So I think for all concerned, to me, it has been a total shambles.”
Red tape on exports has increased dramatically, and the pledge to “take back control” of British waters hasn’t amounted to much for fishermen in Aberdeenshire, Mr Stephen says.
In recent years he has continued to see a “slow, gradual” increase in the number of foreign vessels. Overall, the volume of fish landed by UK ships has decreased steadily since the 80s, while the proportion of fish landed abroad has increased, according to a 2022 Parliamentary briefing.
“We lost some of our markets because we couldn’t supply them, or the fish was being held up. For one truck, it used to go through with one set of paperwork. There are 42 pallets in a truck. Now, each pallet must have its own paperwork,” he says.
While Mr Stephen still maintains that Brexit was the “right thing to do”, saying the UK had too little power within Europe and that fishing rights had been traded in exchange for other markets, he struggles to think of one benefit to his industry.
“The Government will argue we got the extra quota, but what we got was nothing compared to what we’ve seen taking over our waters. They tried to sweeten the deal… but gave us nothing of any use.”
Has he lost money? “Oh, without a doubt. I couldn’t quantify how much. But certainly there’s been no gain. There’s only been pain. I think everybody thinks the same thing. I remember from the first [few months] after Brexit, lorries were sitting waiting to get across. The goods were perishing in lorries, so people lost a lot of money in that respect.”
That’s a lot of words to confirm him as an idiot. The current consequences of Brexit were obvious to a blind monkey so I’ve no sympathy for these folks.
The guy is a mug, pure and simple.
Leave voters: This isn’t the Brexit I voted for
Remain voters: Weird, because this is Exactly the Brexit I voted against
Do these people realize that they’re the actual cause of our current problems? Will they rethink the things they believe? Or will they just vote Tory in five years time?
He’s gonna vote reform. Turkeys, Christmas etc
Mugs like this can cry me a fucking river then drown in it.
Thats what you get when you trust the tories.
Fingers burned and served a turd sandwich.
I dunno man, the cycle of farmers and fishermen seems to be
1. “I’m going to vote for” obvious tory lies.
2. They ignore us begging them not to
3. “The tories lied and now I’m poor, how could this have happened.”
4. “I’m going to voter for this new tory lie”
r/leopardsatemyface