00:00As far as I'm concerned, I don't want anything to do with Europe.
00:02I think we're better in Europe.
00:04I'd still vote Leave.
00:05I would vote Leave as well.
00:07It's been 10 years since Kent went to the polls in a referendum that divided the country.
00:13To leave the EU or to remain, that was the question put to voters.
00:18And in 2016, over 59% of the county voted to leave.
00:24But there can be no doubt about the result.
00:26Of course, I don't take back what I said about the risks.
00:29It is going to be difficult.
00:31We've already seen that there are going to be adjustments within our economy.
00:34But 10 years later, is Kent feeling any buyer's remorse?
00:38Well, we took to the high streets of the county to ask you how you would vote in another referendum.
00:44We spoke to 100 people across each district in Kent and Medway,
00:49knocking on doors and stopping you in high streets.
00:52And the results?
00:53Over 57% of you would now remain.
00:56A change in tune from 2016.
01:01And among those who voted Leave 10 years ago, one in four now say they would switch sides and vote
01:08Remain.
01:11Support for Remain varied dramatically based on where you live in the county.
01:16Tunbridge Wells saw the strongest backing for EU membership across anywhere in Kent.
01:21While Tunbridge and Morning saw the largest shift in voter intention.
01:25And here in Medway, we saw the second largest shift.
01:28Over a third of those who voted for Brexit in 2016 now saying they would vote to stay within the
01:34EU in another referendum.
01:36But how does the rest of the county compare?
01:39In 2016, Ashford was the biggest voter of Leave across the entire county, with almost 60% of residents choosing
01:47Brexit.
01:48But when we ask them now, the heart of Kent is in almost equal divide, with 46% saying they
01:55would remain.
01:56I think we've lost a lot of rights. I think they haven't followed through on all the promises they made.
02:01Lots of government didn't want it, and I don't think anybody's really tried to make it work.
02:06We need to stay as we are. We need to up our own game, for want of a better way
02:11of putting it.
02:12And in the largest town in the Garden of England, voters would overwhelmingly choose to stay in the EU, a
02:20change of heart from 10 years ago.
02:23For me, leaving Brexit was just a terrible idea. It was a terrible risk, and now we're reaping the rewards
02:27of it.
02:27The country's changed, and it's not safe anymore.
02:30I think we are part of EU.
02:32I would say no now, because we go to Europe quite a bit now.
02:38We're sending too much money into the EU.
02:42And from Thanet's beachy coast to the cliffs of Dover, it's a story that rings the same throughout, with residents
02:49also opting to remain.
02:51Because I feel when we are in trouble, you're always going to need a good neighbour to look after you.
02:56I just think the European Union is a better thing for the UK.
02:59Oh, to let, to leave.
03:01I don't like big government. I don't like being told by other people what to do, like in Brussels and
03:06stuff like that.
03:07I want it out.
03:08I'd expect to get Brexit this time, because we did get Brexit, did we? Not the one we wanted.
03:12I'd vote to stay again, because I'd still would like to be able to have free movement of travel within
03:20Europe. That's the main reason.
03:22I'd vote remain again, because it's clear that we're worse off than we were before Brexit.
03:30I think that Brexit makes this country a lot worse for a lot of different reasons.
03:33But just how significant are these results?
03:37It's very striking that, you know, having taken the decision to leave, that there now appears to be a strong
03:44sentiment to rejoin, or rather for people to have voted a different way if they had the opportunity to vote
03:50this time around.
03:51It also acts as a bit of a lightning conductor for whether people feel happy about the broader political choices
03:57that we've made or the direction that the country is heading in.
04:01It's also significant that three quarters of people haven't changed their mind.
04:05And I think one of the things we do know about the electorate now is that the Brexit vote has
04:11cast a very, very long shadow.
04:12With the majority now saying they would vote remain, will returning to the EU make things go back to as
04:19they were before Brexit, or will there be other implications?
04:23But the European Union has changed, and the terms of membership that the UK would face were most likely to
04:30be different.
04:30Anybody who seeks to join the European Union now has to adopt the single currency, so you'd have to swap
04:36the pound for the euro, and we'd have to join the so-called Schengen area, which is the area in
04:42which people move freely.
04:43You know, two examples of policy areas which the UK would have to adopt.
04:48Now ten years on from Brexit, the debate is anything but over.
04:52While some say that they would choose differently if they had the opportunity, others remain just as convinced that they
04:58made the right decision back in 2016.
05:01Nayla Mohamed for KMTV, across all of Kent.
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