Cefyn Burgess, who weaves Welsh tapestry blankets, quilts, throws and cushions, was distinctly unimpressed at Theresa May’s trip to his beloved homeland. “To be honest, I think it’s insulting to us that she’s come here. She visits on her walking holidays but I really don’t think she or her government care about Wales. We’re a non-entity to her, invisible.”
Burgess, who was to be found on Tuesday behind the counter of his eponymous shop at the craft centre in Ruthin, north Wales, said he considered himself Welsh and European, not British. He believed May had not taken Wales into account during the Brexit negotiations.
“She has ignored Scotland, paid off Northern Ireland and is indifferent to Wales,” said Burgess, who has joined the nationalist party Plaid Cymru because he trusts its stance over Brexit. “I’m saddened and distressed about what’s going on. I want us – Wales – to find a way of staying in Europe.”
Emrys Wynne, a Plaid councillor representing the Ruthin ward on Denbighshire county council, said leaving the EU would damage Wales. “It should be clear for all who are following the process that Brexit was not going to be easy and leaving was never going to be in the interest of the Welsh economy,” he said.
“The promises made to the electorate two-and-a-half years ago have proved to be false and we are now having to take a reality check. A people’s vote will enable electors to consider tangible matters as opposed to ideals before placing a cross on the paper.”
Ruthin (or Rhuthun in Welsh), the county town of Denbighshire, sits within the Clwyd West parliamentary seat, which was held by Labour in Tony Blair’s heyday but is currently Tory. The incumbent, the former Welsh secretary David Jones, is a staunch Brexiter and no fan of May’s deal.
Hundreds of millions of pounds of EU funding has been poured into north Wales on theatres, roads, bridges. Yet across Wales, 52.5% of voters chose leave. In Denbighshire it was slightly higher – 54%.
Anne Roberts, a Tory voter who worked for North Wales police before she retired, voted to leave and believes the prime minister ought to be given a chance.
“I think Theresa May should be given the opportunity to carry this through. The process is dragging its feet. It’s frustrating. I think she’s a strong woman and we can put our faith in her. I do think that this party infighting does us no good at all.
“A lot of people have switched off to it, in particular the young people. But there’s respect here for a strong woman. I think people just want to see something happen and move it on.”
Among those wandering around the craft centre were the couple Sue Seys Llewellyn and Edward Walton. Seys Llewellyn said she simply turned off the television when Brexit was mentioned. Walton said he felt the best way forward was to accept the deal May had negotiated. “We can then sort it out as time goes on,” he said. “I think May is amazing – typical vicar’s daughter.”
On the industrial estate down the road farmers were picking up supplies. One said May was “dillying and dallying”. Another claimed May knew nothing of the countryside or Wales.
Caryl Vaughan, a lawyer specialising in agriculture with an office in Ruthin, said the deal was “ambiguous” about the long-term implications for farming.
She said: “Until such time as we have a long-term plan for the country, farmers are not going to be able to prepare a long-term plan for their businesses. As a result, they are more cautious about their plans to develop and invest. This halts the growth of the sector and the rural communities who are reliant upon it.”
Richard Green, who restores and refurbishes motorcycles in Ruthin, voted to remain but also has some sympathy for May. “People were sold a lie and the likes of Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson have vanished. She’s got a bloody hard job.”
