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People across Wales voted convincingly to leave the European Union last week. Some of the largest margins of victory were in the South Wales Valleys.

Yet the way the EU distributes funds means the Valleys are among the places given the most European money.

The Valleys are considered a “less developed region” and among the poorest in Europe.

By far the largest amount of European funding is dedicated to these regions as part of a policy which aims to reduce economic disparities between the EU’s regions.

There is evidence of funding in signs like this, which you regularly come across.

(Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

But every county in the Valleys voted to leave. In some, the Leave vote got as much as 62% of the vote.

Now, a few days on, there are mixed feelings about the result.

There are those who voted to remain and feel Wales will now be worse off. There are Brexiteers who stand by their decision. And there are those who say they would reconsider their choice if there was another referendum.

The Valleys have benefited from billions of pounds of EU funding over the years.

Major projects that have been given tens of millions of pounds include:

The lido in Pontypridd

The Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone campus

The A465 Heads of the Valleys road.

Tens of millions more have also been spent on apprenticeships for young people to help them into employment.

But last Thursday’s result showed voters living in these areas either believe they would be better off out of the European Union or feel it's a price worth paying to leave.

In Blaenau Gwent, 62.03% of people wanted to leave.

Leave votes (left) Remain votes (right)

In Merthyr Tydfil, 56.44% voted for Brexit.

In Rhondda Cynon Taf, 53.7% voted to leave.

But, for some, the backtracking from politicians and the uncertainty which now hangs over the country has come as a surprise.

Daniel Morgan, from Ebbw Vale, voted to leave but said if there was a re-run of the referendum he might change sides and vote to remain.

(Image: Andrew James)

The 58-year-old, who works at Harrisons DIY store, said: “I voted out but I’m on the fence now. Have we made the right decision? There’s backtracking already before we even start.

“We don’t know what will happen in the future and I’m now worried about things going wrong.”

He said he voted out mainly because of immigration and said high unemployment in the area worries him when people from other countries move in to find work.

However, analysis shows that areas of Wales which voted to remain have three times the level of immigration as those that voted to leave .

Daniel added: “I like the Polish people, they work hard and spend money here. I don’t like people who come here and claim everything and send the money home.

“If there was a re-run of the referendum I would possibly vote to remain because I don’t know what will happen in the future.

“The EU has put a lot of money into the area but some of the things don’t bring jobs to the area.

“Some people said if we don’t like being out we can go back but I don’t think we can. I don’t know if I did the right thing.”

But for 20-year-old Kim Morgan, a hairdresser from Tredegar, immigration was the issue which made her vote to leave.

(Image: Andrew James)

She said: “For every doctor that comes there’s another five coming in on benefits. Immigrants don’t spend money here and we don’t have foreign customers. ”

Kim’s mother, Helen Watkins, 39, added: “We are better off on our own. We are overcrowded here and it’s a struggle. A lot of people come over here unskilled and they can claim benefits and can get a house within six months.

“Zero hour contracts started to support Europeans to get more jobs. They are coming over to do seasonal work and people don’t have jobs any more because of that.”

Another aspect of the leave campaign which convinced people to vote out was security.

Catherine Evans, 59, from Pontypool, said: “If we have open borders how can we stop them coming in? There are no background checks and we can’t find out things about them because they are from another country.”

Told that closed borders works both ways and that stopping people coming into the UK also meant putting a stop to British people having the opportunity to go to live and work in other European countries, she said: “Why would they want to go to Europe? The world is a bigger place.”

Another leave voter who shared this opinion was 60-year-old Eileen Lloyd, from Barry.

(Image: Andrew James)

She said: “I’m not worried if my grandchildren can’t go to Europe to live. Why would they want to go to another country? We have the best country.

“It’s the best country because everybody works together and there’s not this snobbery you can get elsewhere. Everybody gets treated equally here.

“Other European countries are in worse positions than us so why would young people go there anyway?”

She said Brexit means things can only get better and will mean we will be financially better off.

“In the future it will get better and it will stop them putting the prices sky high on the market. David Cameron’s government looks after the rich and wages are rubbish.

“But hopefully people will come together and we will be the Great Britain we were all those years ago. If our taxes go up a bit that’s ok.”

(Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Sales assistant Eileen, who works at Jules Clothing in Porth, said she would be “devastated” if Scotland left the UK and as she wasn’t at all shocked at the results on Thursday she thinks a re-run of the referendum would be “terrible”.

Wales has been given just over £4 billion of European money since 2000. It is categorised as "structural funding".

That money has come in three chunks over the years - here's when and how much.

Not everyone voted to leave and many believe that a re-run would see very different results.

Butcher Wayne Grist, 52, from Ebbw Vale, said he voted to remain for the sake of his grandchildren.

(Image: Andrew James)

He said the vote to leave would also have an impact on small local businesses like his own and said things which are going smoothly should not be swapped for uncertainty.

“We deal with local produce and from abroad,” he explained. “We will have to wait and see what happens. It’s an uncertain future and we don’t know what will happen.

“Now that we are out a lot of people are panicking. I didn’t expect people to vote leave. We have had a lot of help here, the town centre has been done up.

“Westminster won’t give us money and I trust Brussels more than Westminster to give back to Wales.

“I really think a second referendum could get different results.”

(Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Some remain voters find it difficult to understand why people voted to leave when they live in an area which has benefited so much from EU funding.

They said the absence of any plan from leave campaign leaders made them doubt further there would be a bright future for the Valleys.

Tony Chaplin, 78, is a Labour councillor for the Cyfarthfa ward in Merthyr Tydfil.

(Image: Andrew James)

He said: “Boris Johnson says there’s no urgency but there seemed to be some last week. We can’t trust these people.

“There have been so many lies. People didn’t seem to take on board what some of the financial experts were saying. We have seen what has happened to the pound and the stock market and it’s going to affect people’s pensions.

“It’s done now but some people are regretting the decision. People have to think before they act.

“Certainly in Wales I didn’t expect the majority to go against it. In Merthyr we get more out than we put in.

“Some politicians say they don’t know what they want out of the decision but there will be a price to pay for having it both ways.”

(Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Following the Brexit result Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland could hold another referendum on independence and Prime Minister David Cameron announced he will be resigning.

Some think the leave vote wasn’t thought through and that many used it as a protest vote.

Accountant Richard Clark, 49, from Ynysybwl, said: “I was surprised at the vote. Because the markets improved at the beginning of the week I though remain would win.

(Image: Andrew James)

“I do think Scotland will go now. Devolution is greater in Scotland than in Wales. Wales has benefited a lot from the EU and a lot of people have been shocked by this, including politicians.

“Leave campaigners had no basis to what they said, just hope. A lot of people said they didn’t think their vote would matter. We’ve heard hardly anything from Gove or Johnson since the results.

“We do need to have someone who believes in leaving to do the negotiation and I think Cameron has no authority in these negotiations.

“I have signed the petition for another referendum.”

Ex-soldier Gary Edwards, from Pentre, Rhondda, said immigration works both ways and many people from Wales have gone to live and work in Europe.

(Image: Andrew James)

But he thinks the UK is not popular among other European nationals and that will count against us when it comes to negotiations.

“We have always been a bully in the past,” the 75-year-old said. “We have been fighting in France, Holland, Belgium, we are always fighting somebody.

“Not many people like us. We have always been a bit on our own and that’s sad. People I know voted out but didn’t know why.

“The EU gave us the lido, what if they close it now? Will the roads which have been started be finished? We don’t know.”

One of the arguments for remaining in the EU was the future for the next generation and giving them opportunities outside their home country.

Beth Rosser, 29, from Merthyr, who works as a manager at Ty Hafan in the town, is pregnant and said she voted to remain for that reason.

(Image: Andrew James)

“Maternity rights are EU laws,” she said. “I don’t understand why people say leaving will be better for our kids later on in life. We don’t know that.

“The future might be uncertain for my child now.

“After everything the EU has done for the town it’s a bit of a slap in the face to leave. It’s like a ‘thanks for everything but no more’.

“I don’t trust Westminster to look out for Wales. Who will be watching them? The EU was like a safety net because politicians are not always very trustworthy.

“I wasn’t shocked with the way the vote went because on the day of the referendum I didn’t come across anyone else who wanted to remain.”

Tomasz Vanazki, 45, lives in Ebbw Vale and is originally from Poland.

(Image: Andrew James)

He said: “Welsh people don't want Polish people here, I can see that on Facebook.

“They don't like us because we work here but we are hard workers. Polish people feel like they are not welcome here now and some want to go back. If Polish people go back home it won't be good for British businesses. A lot of people don't know what they have voted for.”