Norpig wrote:Towns like Bolton have always had a higher percentage of immigrants living there and this has always been lurking in the background. UKIP did exploit this and played on these fears as did other groups like the EDL who have had a few rallies in Bolton.
From what i hear and read in the local press and from friends on social media Bolton has seen a big rise in immigration especially from Eastern Europe so you can understand why the locals feel let down and that the Town is not what it used to be.
Not meaning to sound rude Glos, but your part of the country hasn't seen the massive numbers of immigrants being pushed to towns like Bolton, Blackburn and Rochdale so your views will be lopsided from the other side of the argument.
I'm not saying i think the views a lot of the people hold about immigration are correct but i can understand why they think in that way.
The massive point that most people on here can't seem to grasp is that Brexit didn't win because it was a protest vote against immigration but a REJECTION of the way the country has been governed under EU law and policies, that for many people have seen their living standards and prospects diminish.
Click on the link below and see for yourselves how Brexit won the vote across the nation.
For example polling districts such as Gloucester, Crawley, Allerdale, East Northamptonshire, Lichfield, Christchurch, Purbeck, Selby, Herefordshire, Plymouth, Spelthorne, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, West Somerset, Sedgemore, West Lindsey, Havant and even the Isle of Wight (just to name a few) had a LARGER leave percentage vote than even Bolton did!
The above places are not known to be anti-immigration hot spots and yet they voted by a wider margin to leave than the likes of Bolton, Luton, Hillingdon, Blackburn, Solihull, Slough, Bradford, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham!
Places like Leeds, Hounslow and Leicester even voted to remain!
Even Manchester and Trafford voted to remain yet High Peak, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester voted Brexit!!!
Yes immigration was a big talking point but despite how some people want to pin the Brexit vote on crayon munching racist the reality was that a vast amount of normal people simply voted against continuing in the EU because they saw how the last thirty odd years had seen their living standards diminish and their hopes for their children's future become less promising.
Here are the facts - judge for yourself -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028