‘I’m a fisherman and lifelong Tory who voted Brexit. I won’t vote for them again’

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.”

thank you for doing what you should have done eight years ago, we’re all very grateful

Please don’t tell me he’s going to vote reform instead this time and expect a different outcome?

> He is increasingly tempted by Reform because of its hardline stance on immigration, despite Mr Farage being the primary architect of Brexit, but fears it will split the Conservative vote and hand Labour the win.

Tell me you are an idiot without telling me you are an idiot.

Man dependent on European markets votes to ban himself from European markets. Man then complains he no longer has access to European markets.

We tried to tell him he was being sold a pack of lies, but people like him thought they knew best.

Now the same clowns are doubling down and voting for Reform.

Won’t be any fisherman left in 20 years. Dying tradition 

Just a hunch, but I feel in few years time they’ll be back voting for the same ol shit that fucked up the arse.

Watch this Kipper vote Rusform UK – to “complete Brexit”. He’ll be receiving loadsa Roubles in no time.

You see the problem starts with Voted Tory all my life 😏

Not content with screwing the rest of us over to indulge their stupidity and prejudice now they want a hug because Brexit went exactly the way we told them it would go.

Fucking arseholes.

I have zero sympathy for these people.

If you can’t be bothered to do a little research (yes I know, that phrase has been co-opted by the dumbest of the dumb, but still) on the consequences of such a important issue, and vote accordingly, you deserve what you get.

The “I was sold a pack of lies” defence holds no water with me. It is a persons own responsibility to educate themselves on such things. Never take a politicians word for anything, the say what they think you want to hear in order to get your vote.

The fishermen who voted for brexit really are the epitome of turkeys voting for Christmas

Stuff like this article makes me want IQ tests for voting 🤦‍♂️

Why does the press give these dumb-asses a voice? Seriously?

I’m trying to figure out which one is Dumb and Dumber FFS

The fucking brain trust that’s been guiding the country for much too long

“I voted against my best interests my whole life. I’ve finally learned my lesson,”

more accurate quote, I’m a fisherman and a lifelong idiot for voting Tory.

why people so consistently align with parties that have zero interest in them is beyond me. glad this one’s seen the light tho