AFP, Watford :
For Briton Damian Duffy, who has run flower shops for 20 years, a Brexit would feel like a “huge party”.
This despite British Prime Minister David Cameron, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a host of multinationals all warning of a painful economic fallout should Britain vote to exit the European Union in a referendum on June 23.
“Everyone in this country who is not in big business has had life made more expensive and more difficult to live” as a result of Britain being part of the EU, said Duffy, the 48 year-old owner of Rosanna’s flower shop in Watford, a commuter town northwest of London.
Duffy, who owns three flower shops and employs eight people in and around the Hertfordshire suburb known for its English Premier League football team and proximity to the Harry Potter studios, said EU expansion has pushed up property prices in the area.
“Immigration policies have to change in this country,” Duffy told AFP, as his Thai wife busily prepared flower arrangements for a wedding.
Duffy claimed that an influx of low-skilled labour from the eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 had fuelled property demand in the area, pushing up prices. At the same time, he said, immigration had pushed down wages.
“My local customer base, if they are paying higher rent than they would have been doing normally, then their disposable income spend on businesses like this has decreased.
For Briton Damian Duffy, who has run flower shops for 20 years, a Brexit would feel like a “huge party”.
This despite British Prime Minister David Cameron, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a host of multinationals all warning of a painful economic fallout should Britain vote to exit the European Union in a referendum on June 23.
“Everyone in this country who is not in big business has had life made more expensive and more difficult to live” as a result of Britain being part of the EU, said Duffy, the 48 year-old owner of Rosanna’s flower shop in Watford, a commuter town northwest of London.
Duffy, who owns three flower shops and employs eight people in and around the Hertfordshire suburb known for its English Premier League football team and proximity to the Harry Potter studios, said EU expansion has pushed up property prices in the area.
“Immigration policies have to change in this country,” Duffy told AFP, as his Thai wife busily prepared flower arrangements for a wedding.
Duffy claimed that an influx of low-skilled labour from the eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 had fuelled property demand in the area, pushing up prices. At the same time, he said, immigration had pushed down wages.
“My local customer base, if they are paying higher rent than they would have been doing normally, then their disposable income spend on businesses like this has decreased.
