Small businesses in Wirral are “simply not prepared” for the UK to leave the EU – but many locals want the Prime Minister to get on with getting us out.

“Just get out”, “we’ll be better off on our own” and “we need to start making things ourselves” were the sentiments of many, despite Wirral narrowly voting remain in 2016.

Some despised Brexit and wanted a second referendum, but they were outnumbered when we spoke to people on the streets.

We went to West Kirby, part of a strongly remain-voting ward in the referendum, and Birkenhead, which voted to leave.

Despite West Kirby’s vote to remain, locals were keen to leave.

Mrs Hudson, who did not give her first name, said she just wanted the government to get on with it and get us out.

Paul, who did not want his surname revealed, said: “I’m almost speechless. We have been let down by politicians, they’ve let the country down.

“The future is hard to predict, no rational person can say with certainty whether we’ll be better off after Brexit. There are too many variables. Three years of paralysis after the referendum, that’s the big crime.”

Paul had some unusual views on what should happen next. He said: “Personally I voted out, because I want us to have more control over our own future. But if we’re in I think we should be all in, in the Euro for instance.

“It’s a bit like we’re having an affair with the EU, rather than being married to it. We just need to go one way or the other.”

Every leave voter we spoke to said the democracy argument was key for them. The attraction of leaving the EU was ‘taking back control’ in the words of the Vote Leave campaign.

Omar Salah said: “Businesses could be down on money if there’s no deal and growth may be affected, but we’ll recover. We will be able to decide on our own, do our own deals and be free.”

Birkenhead is a far less affluent area than West Kirby and local views on Brexit reflected this to an extent.

People accepted that a post-Brexit economic hit would be a big problem for their area.

Chris Davies said: “I’m a remainer, I think Brexit will bring disorder to the UK. I’ll be surprised if the deal gets through, then the question is what next?

“EU-nationals come here and do really important jobs. If that stops, that will have a big impact on the area. There are lots of them in Birkenhead, if they go that will hurt the area.

“I know loads of them and they have been great for the area. I think some of the old, white working-class don’t have those same cultural links through no fault of their own, but that means they don’t see the benefit of EU immigration as much.”

Concern over the economic impact of Brexit did not, however, translate into a desire to remain in the EU for most people the LDRS spoke to.

When asked what he wanted to happen, Dom Hazlehurst said: “Get out! No one knows whether we will be better off, but we will be in a better situation on our own. It’s about democracy, at the moment we have no control.

“In Australia, immigrants have to have a job to go to before they can go there. You shouldn’t be able to come here and claim benefits straight away. Some of them claim benefits and then send them abroad [where their family live], that’s not right.”

A local taxi driver, who wished to remain anonymous, made the point that Britain once “made things itself” and can do so again outside the EU.

He said: “You get what you paid for. If import prices go up and we can’t afford to import so much, we’ll make it ourselves and we’ll make better products.”

When asked how public services across Wirral would cope without the same number of foreign workers, he said: “We need to do these things ourselves.”

In spite of the pro-Brexit vote in his Birkenhead and Tranmere ward, Green Party Councillor Pat Cleary said: “The Green Party as a whole continue to campaign for a People’s Vote, it’s the only sensible way forward.

“This deal has a serious impact on EU nationals, that doesn’t get enough coverage. It’s also a recipe for watering down workers’ rights, protections we’ve built up over many years.

“It will also have an environmental impact. We have to deal with climate chaos transnationally and we have a much better support network as part of a big group of countries.”

Cllr Cleary said he was confident that remain would win “clearly” in another public vote, but said there was “no good outcome” from the Brexit process.

“Brexit has split the country and our area, we have to invest in repairing democracy. People have no voice under this voting system. The reason they feel angry is that they are removed from democracy. Democracy is not working for them.

“We need a People’s Assembly and constitutional reform.”

On the other hand, Conservative Councillor Jeff Green represents the remain-voting West Kirby and Thurstaston ward, but wants the UK to leave the EU under the terms of Boris Johnson’s deal.

He said: “It all depends on deal or no deal. The general response from local business is that they lack certainty.

“This impacts on business confidence and investment decisions. People will put off decisions. The key for me is certainty. In the referendum, West Kirby voted to remain and so did Wirral as a whole, but as time has passed uncertainty has become the main issue.

“Lots of people who voted leave want a deal. Of course some people would rather remain, it’s a divisive issue. But people said the PM wasn’t trying to find a deal, we’ve now seen that he was.”

Cllr Green’s position is an acceptance of the result. In the 2016 referendum, he voted to remain. However, he believes Wirral could be better off as a result of Brexit.

He added: “It is early to say if Wirral will be better off. A lot will depend on the future relationship we negotiate with the EU. If we negotiate a good free trade agreement we can cut tariffs with non-EU countries, that has to benefit us.

“We have higher standards than the minimum EU standards anyway, so I don’t think we have anything to fear in that area. Why should we be bound to lower standards? It could be argued that we will now have a sensible political debate about what those standards should be.”

Government analysis of Theresa May’s Brexit deal said it would cost the country 2.1% of its national income over the next 15 years, but the same figures suggested a deal along the lines of Boris Johnson’s would be three times as bad, costing the UK £130bn over the next decade-and-a-half.

Part of this cost is the problems small business will have adapting to the post-Brexit world.

Warren Ward, director of policy and international trade at Wirral Chamber of Commerce, said: “There are major issues within our Small Business Community in regards to EU-exit readiness. Our small businesses locally simply are not prepared for the UK to leave the EU.”

Mr Ward emphasised that while large corporations can employ dedicated Brexit-officers, smaller firms are not able to make the same preparations.

He added: “This [unpreparedness] is because of a number of factors. Knowledge, resources and time. The priority of our small business community is to keep their heads above water in a time of deep economic uncertainty.

“They don’t have the time or resources to fully invest in creating a Brexit Readiness Strategy or Plan. That is why Wirral Chamber and chambers across the UK are providing our small business owners with key support on Brexit Readiness.

The Brexit end game is still unknown, no-one is sure how the seemingly never ending parliamentary soap opera will conclude, but what is clear is that Wirral is still divided on the issue.

Many fear the impact a so-called ‘Hard Brexit’ or a no-deal Brexit will have on the borough, but most people we spoke to wanted a solution to be found and the chaos to end.