EU referendum: Leicester is proud of its diversity yet seems divided

It’s market day in Leicester and it is abuzz with shoppers and weekend visitors. Near the clock tower on the site of the old hay and straw market in the heart of the city, dozens of traders have set up stalls along the pedestrianised streets.

A  French “boulangerie” competes with a Dutch cheesemonger for the attention of shoppers. Along the rows of stalls, Moroccan, Jamaican and Polish flags flutter wildly in the breeze.

The vast array of culinary cultures on display is a fitting symbol of a city that prides itself on its diversity.

Leicester, which rose to prominence following its football team's surprise Premier League victory last month, is one of Britain's most ethnically mixed cities. According to the last census in 2011, less than half of the population identified themselves as White British.

For many residents of this city of 350,000 people, just east of Birmingham, the diversity is a source of pride. Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby recently invited US presidential hopeful Donald Trump to visit. After calls for Mr Trump to be banned from visiting Britain due to his controversial comments on Muslims, Mr Soulsby said: "It's far better we argue with people who are as misguided and as foolish as him and seek to show them the reality of the world and the reality of Britain, and the reality we are proud of in our city of Leicester."

On this afternoon, Leicester's ethnic diversity is on full display. Dozens of women dressed in full burkas walk in and out of shops, as groups of white teenagers congregate outside Costa Coffee. Further down the street, young Muslim men are distributing educational leaflets on Islam.

But while the city appears to be the model of integration, moving into the suburbs reveals a more complex picture. In the roads leading into the city heavily ethnic areas peppered with curry houses and kebab shops signify the presence of predominantly non-white communities.

Cricket pitch

A few kilometres to the west of the city, the streets widen to become suburban roads lined with detached houses complete with neat hedges and mowed lawns. Nearby, a cricket game is taking place on a pristine green lawn.

Speaking to people on this sunny Saturday afternoon 10 days before Britain votes in the EU referendum, Leicester appears to be divided on Europe.

Robert has been a fruit-seller at the city centre market for 50 years. Today, he’s offering punnets of English strawberries. I ask him how he’s going to vote. “I’m an out,” he says as he hands out bags to the queuing customers, most of them Muslim women. “I’ve thought about it a lot, and on balance, I think it is better for us to take back control of our own economy, to strengthen sterling.”

He says his vote is nothing to do with immigration. “We have a great city, very mixed, people get on well. But I think that Europe has gone too far.”

Around the corner, Brian and Carol, a couple in their late-40s, are firmly in the Remain camp. Brian hails from Scotland, Carol from nearby Warrington. They have lived in Leicester for 20 years and both work in the public sector. “We travel quite a lot, and see the benefits Europe brings. I see myself as European and British,” says Brian. He is concerned that an “Out” vote could lead to a second referendum in Scotland.

Carol, a teacher, says there has been a lot of scare-mongering from both sides of the campaign, but she believes there are more risks in leaving. "I don't like many of the things that are imposed from Brussels but, on balance, I think we're better off in. The politicians that are advocating to leave are also putting me off – I intensely dislike Ukip and Nigel Farage, " she says.

As one of Britain’s most historic cities – the remains of Richard III were found beneath a city carpark in 2012 – it is also one of the most left-wing.

Anti-Tory

The Midlands is strong

Labour

Party territory. Despite the decimation of the party in last year’s general election, Leicester retained three Labour MPs. Local MP

Liz Kendall

, who ran for the Labour Party leadership last year, believes EU membership benefits Leicester hugely, highlighting the EU funding received each year by Leicester’s two universities, and the benefits the single market bring to local businesses.

On the streets of Leicester, it seems that domestic politics and party political preferences may help determine whether Leicester votes to stay or go.

One common thread in conversation with many of the Saturday shoppers is a strong anti-Tory sentiment. Mohammed is a British-born Muslim (24) working with the Islam Against Extremism group.

As he distributes leaflets he says the aim of the group is to show people that “not everyone who looks like me is going to hurt them”, pointing to his long black beard and turban. Asked how he is going to vote in the referendum, he says that, while his organisation is not political, he has his personal views. “I’m going to vote Remain because we need to be protected from the Tories. Being part of Europe guarantees us rights that they might not necessarily give.”

It is a view echoed by another Leicester resident in her early 50s who’s busy in conversation in French with the croissant-seller at the boulangerie.

A care worker, she lived in Le Havre for 13 years before moving back to Leicester. For this British citizen, a Remain vote is not only about the freedom to live and work in another country, it is also about safeguarding workers' rights. "I think it's important that we protect the social rights and benefits that Europe has given us," she says. She says that many of her colleagues in the health service are non-British, a development she believes has enriched the NHS.

Whatever the referendum outcome in this still-undecided city, Kendall believes it is crucial people exercise their right to vote. “It is vital that people have their say on the most important question we face in a generation.”