A look back at Shropshire in the 2010s, including Elton John in Shrewsbury
Toby Neal is taking a journey through the decades in Shropshire to mark the Shropshire Star's 60th anniversary. Here’s a look at the 2010s.
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David Cameron, George Osborne, Sir Keir Starmer, Barack Obama, virtually every economist, the entire City of London as well as the city of London, the international financial establishment, the majority of MPs, the House of Lords, the firmament of television, radio and entertainment, Hugh Grant, Donald Tusk, Jean Paul Juncker...
Just some of those who didn’t think Brexit was a good idea.
And then on the other side were Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and, reputedly, Vladimir Putin.
Who did the British voters side with? Well, we all know the answer to that.
On June 23, 2016, the British people served up a seismic shock when, against expectations, they voted to leave the European Union after a span of 43 years.
Across the UK the result was quite close, with 52 per cent voting Leave and 48 per cent voting to Remain.
Brexit in Shropshire
Across Shropshire, Brexiteer feeling was strong. In Telford & Wrekin the Leave-Remain split was 63 per cent to 37 per cent. In the rest of Shropshire, it was 57 per cent to 43 per cent.
It meant Shropshire had been on quite a Eurosceptic journey since the original 1975 referendum, when county voters had been markedly more enthusiastic about the then Common Market than the rest of the nation – back then 72 per cent of Salopians voted to stay in, compared to the national figure of 67 per cent.
The Brexit referendum triggered years of turbulent politics.
Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May thought she would strengthen her hand by calling a general election, but it backfired badly and she ended up in a weaker position.
Things hung in the balance until the general election of December 2019 when new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who went into the campaign with a “Get Brexit Done” slogan, won a decisive victory.
While on the subject of important votes, September 2014 saw Scotland go to the polls on the issue of independence. The result was 55 per cent in favour of remaining within the United Kingdom. Again, it was not the end of the debate.
Every decade has a year, or years, which are particularly memorable, and for the second decade of the 21st century it was 2012 which will last long in the memory.
London 2012 Olympics and Shrewsbury Town make it to League One
It brought Britain a double celebration in 2012, with the holding of the Olympic Games and Paralympics in London, together with various events across Shropshire and nationwide to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Queen.
