– It's a very popular fringe meeting. – You bet!
It's very embarrassing, but thank you.
– Tories out! Tories out!
It's really what politics is like now. Brexit sits right at the heart of it.
It's very highly charged, very passionate. It's very divided.
– Boo! Boo!
Ladies and gentlemen, let us have a proper and thoughtful debate.
– Demonstrators out!
It's a public meeting. It's a public meeting in a public hall.
– It's very important to have a discussion. – Ask him a question!
– All right, what would you like to ask me? – Your disgusting views are not welcome here!
What do you disagree with me about?
Tuition rights, women's rights, austerity ... everything.
You're a despicable person.
We may disagree on things,
but just because you disagree with somebody doesn't make them a bad person.
I think people want us to continue, so we'd better get on.
– I couldn't care less, because ... – Nice to have met you. Thank you.
– What are you filming? Anything good? – Can we talk to you for a minute?
Yeah, of course. Did you vote in the referendum last year?
Yeah, I voted to leave. Why did you vote to leave?
Because I want the immigrants out of my country.
Do you? Let me ask you one more question then.
We've just been on a fruit farm not far from here.
Do you know who picks and packs all the fruit?
Yeah, immigrants, yeah.
Yeah. And what would happen if they all went home?
The English would have to take their place, wouldn't they?
Yeah, but they won't do it, apparently.
Yeah, well ... You're a remainer, aren't you?
No, I just ask questions.
I wish they'd get their arses into gear.
– What? Do it?
Yeah. We voted to leave. That was the result – leave.
Sort it out.
This woman here voted remain, I guarantee you.
Excuse me, we're journalists; We work for the Guardian.
Which way did you vote?
– To remain. – See, I knew!
What, do you think, gives you away?
I look quite sane!
It's the bike, isn't it?
– It was the flowers on your bike, yeah.
Everyone I've met, though, up to now, before I met you, voted 'leave'
and is very strong in their opinions.
They've got some resentments about ...
– Yeah, but they ... – The fact that the place hasn't had enough
attention, maybe? And the economy isn't what it should be?
Because of their resentment, they're blaming the wrong people, aren't they?
– Where are you from? – Romania.
– [Will] you go back to Romania soon?
Yes. October.
– And are you coming back next year?
Yes, I want to, but ...
– You don't know.
The Brexit.
I don't know what to say about Brexit, because in my country,
people are not very happy [about] this. And your pound ...
– It's physically hard work. We start very early in the morning.
We can't get people locally to do it.
– Do you try?
– Every year we try. Most who say they're going to come
don't actually turn up. And those who do turn up
last a day or two.
A certain sort of person who's watching you saying that will say,
'Well, why don't you pay people more?'
We are limited by what we are being paid.
We have to make a margin, so if we're being paid X for a punnet of fruit
there's no point in paying our staff more than that to pick it.
It has been much more difficult this year sourcing enough people.
Early season, we were not able to pick everything. We were losing fruit.
We had about seven or eight acres that we were unable to pick.
– How many tunnels is that?
There must be about 10 of these to the acre.
For a month, earlier in the summer, because of labour shortages related to Brexit,
the fruit in 70 of these was lost.
70.
I think it's not only bad for us. It's bad for people from England
because I don't know how many people will come here to work if we are not here.
– Yeah, and then there's no fruit for anybody, right?
Yes! In the supermarkets, you don't see [fruit] with the ticket 'British'.
– The question is, who's going to pick and pack the fruit?
– That's a good question. – Would you do it?
Would I do it? I'd do it they paid me! But not the minimum wage.
– Well, that's what you're getting! £7.80 an hour.
I don't want none of that. You pay me £8.50, I'll pick the fruit for you.
– But then the fruit's going to be more expensive, and you're not going to be able to buy it.
What are you saying? If they all have to go home,
then there will be nobody to pick the fruit? – That's what they say.
Don't be so ridiculous! That's stupid.
– Who would pick the fruit? – You funny little man ...
Obviously, I well know that hanging around a shopping centre mid-afternoon a weekday,
you are going to tend to get a certain kind of person with a certain kind of view.
Nonetheless, these are the people
whose opinions are pushing the country in the direction that it's going.
The way I see it, the money that we plough into there
could have gone to our hospitals. It could build up our NHS.
It could boost that up.
– How do you think the country will change?
– It will become great again. – Do you? Do you really think that?
– Yes. – You sound like Donald Trump!
– Where are you from? – Iran.
– You're from Iran?
I want to say the bookie is cheating.
Why? Because you keep losing?
– What about Brexit? That's a gamble.
It's better, yeah.
– Brexit's better?
Yeah! We [have to] exit because too many foreigners are coming.
– Like you?
I am British!
I [have been here for] 20 years! It's a lot of Polish taking our jobs.
Taking your job – not our jobs, your job. Schools, your trains, your buses are all busy.
I like it.
You don't worry that the country's going to be in a bit of a mess because of Brexit?
No, it's good. I like it.
We're going to lose trade. Companies will pull out.
Fruit rotting in the fields ...
Business people will lose money. Not poor people like me.
– Good luck at the bookie! – You're welcome!
– Thank you.
– One thing that probably isn't worth a punt
is the fall of the local football team, Gillingham FC.
It just so happens they're at home tonight in the middle of something of a losing streak.
The main reason we came here is because lots of people here voted for Brexit a year ago.
Yeah, I did.
– Did you vote for Brexit as well? – Yeah.
We end up paying all this money for silly rules.
'You can't do this, you can't do that.'
We seem to be governed by people who seem to think they know everything
and you don't get nothing back.
What's going to happen to the country in the next two or three years?
I am optimistic, actually.
– Are you? – Yeah.
– How's the team doing at the minute? – Don't ask.
– Struggling. – Struggling?
We look like 11 strangers on the pitch, and ...
– No, teamworks the problem!
All sounds rather familiar.
They don't seem to have gelled, the players, you know?
– They've not got the right kind of unity.
– I thought last year's squad was the worst I've ever seen.
This year's squad is awful.
The manager wasn't ... He was out of his depth.
– The person in charge was out of their depth?
We'll get up there again.
– You've got some faith, have you? – Yes. You've got to have faith.
So the future will turn out OK? Yeah, once we get a decent manager.
Jacob, speak for England!
[football chant]
Not any old Brexit, not a secondhand Brexit,
not a Norway or Swiss Brexit.
[Football supporters jeering]
We should be jealous, but we should be tough.
[Applause]
Excuse me, can we follow you out?
I have spent time recently at a fruit farm in Kent,
which is already experiencing labour shortages.
– We're going to lose our interview. Hang on a second.
Could we just do it very quickly?
No, can I just talk to him please?
You can ask the question.
Raspberries have already rotted in the fields.
We should be implementing a seasonal workers programme
from outside the European Union as soon as possible.
We have focused on the narrow European sphere rather than looking broadly to the world.
That's been a great failing policy whilst we've been in the European Union.
Fire away!
This country is divided, isn't it? Split down the middle.
Compared to Germany? I mean, look at Spain.
It's no good bottling these things up. You need to have a frank discussion.
We've had it. We've had the referendum
and democracy has succeeded. This is very good news for the United Kingdom.
Well, there you go. A lot of faith, hope, optimism,
despite a string of bad results and the fact the team's not performing terribly well.
It's what keeps people coming to party conferences,
but I'm starting to worry that the rest of us are about to get relegated.