‘Our town is sick of waiting for Brexit’ – Welsh resort wants Boris Johnson to act on his promises In what could be the last summer before the UK leaves Europe, Dean Kirby begins a road trip through Brexit Britain.

In what could be the last summer before the UK leaves Europe, Dean Kirby begins a road trip of Britain’s Brexit heartlands to see if public opinion has changed since the 2016 referendum. On the first leg of his journey, he visits the Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl – a town that has been a beneficiary of EU funding.

In the summer sunshine, the seafront at Rhyl feels a million miles from the Westminster Brexit debacle and the coronation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

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Down on the beach, which looks out to one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, the imperative of the lifeguards right now is to stop holidaymakers from being cut off by the incoming tide.

Like shepherds in red shorts, they are hurrying about on four-wheel-drive buggies and urging families with young children to come in from distant sandbanks that are slowly being engulfed by the sea.

But while the lifeguards are focused on the immediate danger, the people of this Victorian seaside resort are quietly wondering about Boris Johnson and whether the end of the summer holiday season will see them leaving Europe.

Rhyl is recovering from decline

“Boris Johnson isn’t exactly the most moral person,” says Kara Jennings, who works in a shop selling sticks of Welsh rock for 25p each. “My worry is that he will be Donald Trump’s puppet.

”He’s full of enthusiasm and he’s funny, but Coco the Clown was funny and you wouldn’t want him to be Prime Minister.

“I voted Remain, but I think we’ll have to come out now because it’s gone too far. I think Boris will deliver Brexit but I don’t think he’ll care what happens because it won’t affect the likes of him.”

“I can’t believe Wales voted to leave Europe because we get so much money from the EU,” she adds. “Rhyl is doing better than it was, but it needs investment. We’ll never get that sort of money from central Government.”

Rhyl, which is recovering from a decline in British seaside holidays, is among Welsh towns that have been big beneficiaries of European Union structural funds.

EU money

Plans have been in the pipeline to breathe new life into the Queens Arcade – formerly the Savoy Hotel – as part of a £30m redevelopment project including EU cash.

Brussels has already contributed millions towards coastal defences and for improvements to the A55, which brings tourists from Liverpool and Manchester, as part of a £1.1bn package of EU-funded schemes to boost the Welsh economy.

But Denbighshire, which includes Rhyl and the neighbouring resort of Prestatyn, voted by 54 percent to quit Europe in the 2016 referendum.

Last year, pollsters said Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency, which includes Rhyl, was one of 14 in Wales that would now vote Remain if a second referendum was held.

“Some people have changed their minds, but I haven’t,” says Rob Hall, who works in one of the arcades on Rhyl’s seafront. “I voted for Leave because of all the millions Boris said we were giving to Europe.

”But three years on, we’re still in it. How long is it going to take? Boris said he will get us out but I’ll only believe it when I see it. I’m just fed up with Brussels telling us what we can and can’t do.“

‘Give Johnson a chance’

The Vale of Clwyd constituency is a swing seat – switching from Labour to the Conservatives in 2015 and back to Labour again in 2017.

Its current incumbent, Labour’s Chris Ruane, has previously pressed the Tories to explain how they would replace the £5.3bn Wales has received from EU structural funds since 2000.

Among Conservative voters who are prepared to give Mr Johnson a chance are Richard and Violetta Bell, who run a shop on the seafront selling soft drinks and Welsh ice cream.

Mr Bell voted Remain and his wife voted for Leave. Next door to the shop stands a concrete reminder to the history of Rhyl, with tiles inlaid with old photographs of crowded beaches, beauty pageants and donkey rides.

”I think we need to give Boris Johnson six months to see what he does,“ Mr Bell says in between serving holidaymakers. ”But I wouldn’t want another election now.

“I voted to Remain, but I think we just have to get on with it now. When you watch the news, Brexit is just constantly nagging at you. The politicians have stopped tackling any other issues and the country is in a mess.”

In the streets behind the seafront, where a man lies asleep on the floor in a doorway, there are signs that Rhyl faces the same problems as towns across the UK.

Homelessness

Earlier this month, figures suggested that the cost of rehoming homeless families in Denbighshire has more than doubled in three years to £1.2m. In February, there were reports that homeless people were being evicted from seafront hotels amid concerns they could put off tourists.

Another report last year said a quarter of retail units in the town were standing empty – with the loss of big names including Marks and Spencer.

Tourism supports more than 6,200 jobs in Denbighshire, which saw 5.9m visitors in 2017 – a 25 percent rise on 2007.

Peter Moon, 80, who is pottering around the the town on a mobility scooter shaped like a motorbike, moved to Rhyl three years ago from Southend-on-Sea.

“Rhyl hasn’t got a lot going for it compared to Southend,” he says. “My wife wanted to move here and I said I’d give it a year or two and if I didn’t like, it I’d move back down south, but I’m too old to move again now.

”I voted Leave in the referendum because Boris was saying we were giving Europe so much money every month.

“I would do the same again. I think Boris is okay. If he can’t get us out of Europe, then nobody will. Only God above knows if he will be a good Prime Minister.”

Back on the seafront, holidaymakers who have been chased up the beach by the rising tide are asking for their room keys at Rhyl’s Westminster Hotel. The Victorian building first opened to guests in 1878.

“I’ve been to business meetings where we’ve been told to be optimistic,” says the owner Carol Arnett, who voted Leave in the referendum. “But it’s hard to be optimistic.

”Rhyl voted heavily to leave the EU. People are sick to death of waiting.

“Whether we stay or go, it will make no difference here. Eventually, we’ll be better off out of Europe.”