Starved of resources and losing all hope, Britain’s most deprived town opts for Brexit

The son of Pakistani immigrants, Sajaad Ahmed voted to leave the European Union because he sees only one way to reverse a decades-long dwindling of resources in Britain’s most deprived town: curb immigration.

Deteriorating public services, competition for jobs and a general economic malaise are the constant refrains of the 61 per cent of voters in this northwest English town who opted to leave the EU, many citing migration as the root cause.

Their long-simmering frustrations exploded onto the world stage on Friday when 52 per cent of Britons voted to leave the EU, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, sending global markets into a tail-spin and raising questions about the future of the European Union itself.

“It’s not racism. It’s just that we’ve been pushed to the back of the queue,” Ahmed said as he waited in a minivan to pick up his wife and children from the Bargains 4 Less Superstore in Oldham a day after he defied the advice of relatives and voted leave.

“It’s like you’ve had the fun, let these people come in and have a little bit ... a piece of the pie. But the pie is getting increasingly smaller.”

Of a dozen Leave voters interviewed in Oldham, named the most deprived town in Britain by the Office for National Statistics, all cited shortages of good jobs and over-stretched services - and all said migrants were a factor.