Washington: ‘People don’t bother voting – nothing will change’

Sixty years ago, Washington was designated a “new town”. It paved the way for modern-looking homes and infrastructure, while connecting growing communities to jobs.

Muneer Memon manages a shop which has been in business for 120 years. He’s been working in the area for 27 of them.

“The cost of living is too much and people are really struggling day to day,” he says.

His colleague John Ali says prices in the shop have gone up and “everyone is struggling”.

“There are a lot of working class people and people on benefits – it’s really, really hard on them,” he adds.

“I think people got disappointed with the system to be honest, everybody says they are all the same. They just lost their trust.”