Brexit - the word that UK politicians dare not mention

In the port town of Grimsby and along the east coast of northern England, there aren't many people even mentioning the word. Eight years ago, it was all that was talked about. Together with 'protecting our borders', 'fishing' and 'reclaiming sovereignty.'

Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister, and Sir Keir Starmer, potentially the next prime minister, didn't mention it either when they came to debate the election - in Grimsby's town hall.

‌Such is the divisive fallout from Brexit, it's perhaps no wonder that politicians don't want to be reminded of it. In the new constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, only the Reform UK candidate was happy to talk about it. The Labour and Conservative candidates were evasive and few campaign posters were visible.

‌Oliver Freeston was one of the UK's youngest Conservative politicians until a few months ago. Now he represents his new party on the Tory-run local authority.

He's joined the populist right-wing Reform party because he says the Conservatives have failed in delivering Brexit and have failed the country.

"They failed to deliver on the benefits that Brexit could have brought," said Freeston. "That's why people in Grimsby and Cleethorpes particularly are so angry about it, because we voted 70 percent overwhelmingly to leave the European Union, and a lot of people did that based on taking control of our borders."

‌The impact of Brexit is still being argued about, in terms of billions, not millions, of British pounds. Last February the American bank Goldman Sachs published a claim that Brexit is directly responsible for the UK economy growing 5 percent less since the vote in 2016. A Bank of England policymaker, Jonathan Haskel said that's around £1,000 ($1,270) per household in Britain. Others would disagree with the figures.

‌Despite Reform threatening the old guard, this parliamentary seat may still be mostly a fight between the Conservatives who took the seat in 2019 and Labour who lost it for the first time in 80 years.

There was a combination of apathy, mistrust, despair and anger on the streets of Grimsby when people are asked about the election and why the politicians don't want to mention Brexit.

‌One Grimsby woman smiled ruefully and told me: "I think everybody voted wrong in 2016 and nobody wants to admit that they voted wrong."

Some local men were more critical, and others said they're less likely to vote. One told CGTN: "I don't really trust politicians … you know, you got to pick one of them. Someone's got to get in some way."

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Another said: "I voted Labour when Tony Blair came in. He did nothing. I voted for the Conservatives, (they) did nothing."

Other voters insisted that voting is important. "When we vote, we're saying 'OK, I'm putting you there because this is I know that you can do what I want you to do'... because if we don't vote, we won't get what we want."

Until the 1960s Grimsby had claims to be the world's largest fishing port, with hundreds of trawlers docking here. Those jobs have gone, but almost 3,000 people are employed in fish processing plants and along the dockside, grading fish before they're sold.‌

These days the cod and haddock auctioned in Grimsby's Fish Market every week arrive from the fishing fleets of Iceland. Martyn Boyers is the chief executive of the market that sells tons of fish each week to around 70 buyers from across the UK.

According to Boyers: "We've gone from being the largest fishing port into the largest wind farm port. We're an operation and maintenance base for wind farms, but we're still maintaining the fish business. The Icelanders have caught the fish, it's brought in containers to Grimsby. It's offloaded by road and brought to the fish market for sale. So it's very much like it used to be. But the sourcing of the fish, the route to market has changed."

‌The famous old docks may be used more as film sets than a home port for a fleet of fishing boats, but some companies are still operating - even thriving.

‌"What matters is about the things around the business, our businesses is just the fish," said Boyers. "It's the rules and regulations around employment, about minimum wage, about pensions, about rights, and about access to getting to work, things that are actually the nitty gritty of the business."

‌Smoking haddock locally is still taking place. Most of Grimsby's fish head to Britain's estimated 10,000 fish and chip shops. But not all. Alfred Enderby Limited is one of the specialized companies that smokes haddock, as owner Patrick Salmon explained.

"We've been smoking here using this method for well over 100 years and that's never changed over that time span," explained Salmon.

"Grimsby has its problems, but a relatively small community, 120,000 people living in Grimsby, in Cleethorpes. But we do have the largest fish processing in the Northern hemisphere.

‌On Brexit – he's adamant. "Brexit was the right thing to do. I don't want Brussels running our country, but it's only right that we should trade with our neighbors. It's bonkers that we shouldn't trade with our neighbors. And the Common Market should exist. It should have been reformed."

He added: "If Brussels hadn't been so arrogant, what they would have done is made the UK situation work."

‌Salmon is confident that Grimsby and the dock area will improve with regeneration and new plans for the future.‌

‌Near the port I met Peter Craig, a journalist with Grimsby's Telegraph newspaper. "It was a tense time around Brexit because people wanted to maintain job security and encourage investment in this area."

But this election, he argues, is all about bread-and-butter issues. "The paramount thoughts in people's minds is how much they have in their family budgets. But they're also deeply concerned about the state of the NHS and, post-pandemic how we can recover and get more people treated and off waiting lists."

Traditionally there has been no rush to vote in these areas. Turnouts at general elections are lower than most other regions in Britain.

There is frustration at the cost of living and the shadow of Brexit and the pandemic. Despite some public investments, others argue the quality of life is deteriorating.

People blame mismanagement of the economy, complain about migration and many many disgruntled locals told us they're fed up with empty promises. How that will affect who will be the member of parliament for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes come Friday remains to be seen.

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