Immigrants, robots, and farmers | Inside the most Brexit town in Britain

It wasn't a surprise when Boston in Lincolnshire voted for Brexit with the highest vote share of anywhere in the UK. The market town had seen immigration at a breakneck pace.

The town's immigrant population increased by 460% between 2004 and 2014, then multiplied by ten between 2011 and 2021. The town looked different too. Many locals said they didn’t recognise the place they had grown up in.

But since 76% of the town voted to leave the EU, not much has changed. Immigrants still come to the town in record numbers, attracted by the vacancies in Lincolnshire’s massive farming industry.

The lands around Boston are some of the most valuable farmland in Europe. Lincolnshire produces one eighth of the UK’s food and a huge amount of barley, wheat, oilseed rape and sugar beet.

Such a large industry requires a tonne of Labour. But Lincolnshire farmers have lamented how hard it is to fill vacancies on the farm. The work involves long hours and is physically demanding. Many English people just refuse to do it.

The solution for years has been to recruit Eastern Europeans, keen to work, leading to the huge numbers we’ve seen settling into Boston. But that might all change.

Ed Campbell went to Lincolnshire to explore the UK's changing farming industry and just what that might mean for Britain's most Brexit town.

Reporter: Ed Campbell
Camera: Harry Ainsworth
Producer: Laura Beveridge

But now, that might change.

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