Martin Hawes, Swindon train station: ‘We fought the world war to defeat the radical far-right’

I started selling Big Issue around 2018, but I’ve known about the magazine since the 1990s. I started doing it when I left Honda. I used to work there as a line clearer but I got signed off on medical grounds because I suffer from what they call autistic spectrum disorder meltdowns. 

The Honda factory shut down in 2021. I knew it would. I said that will happen if we leave the European Union, because this place is basically run off the EU. 

It is sad. Swindon used to be an employment hub. Now it’s one of the most deprived boroughs in the country. Brexit was the biggest cause of the problem, and a lot of people say that. Swindon is not like it was. I’m selling far fewer magazines than I used to years ago. The hard part of selling is being ignored a lot. But you just have to say ‘Good morning how are you, that’s a lovely smile’ – that sort of thing. I’ve got a lot of people who support me
in Swindon.  Part of it is that people don’t carry cash. I’ve got a card reader, but it’s complicated. You’ve got to download your bank statements, you’ve got to have a copy of your passport. 

I was born in London, but I’ve travelled about the country quite a bit.I’ve been to Thailand; I love Thailand. Thai food is the best in the world. I’ve been in Swindon 19 years. I used to sell by the Marks & Spencer, but it got sold off. 

I watch the news a lot. BBC mainly, though I look at GB News too. I think it’s propaganda. I want to say to Nigel Farage: if the £1.5 million from I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! paid for your £1.4 million house – how come you paid hardly any tax? 

If we didn’t have aggressive tax avoidance, tax giveaways and shareholders sucking the life out of this country, we would have enough money to support our defence and our great British army. We fought the world war to defeat the radical far-right. 

I don’t have too many hobbies. I’d like to do photography, but that costs too much money. I take photos on my mobile phone, and they come up brilliantly. You just need patience and time. My eyesight is very good, but my hearing is rubbish. It’s been rubbish ever since I was at little school. I can’t wear hearing aids, because I have psoriasis in my ear channels. I’m going to the doctor for a hearing test today.   

I read the magazine. But I can’t read very well. I struggle with it, but I try my best. I went to a special needs school, a SEND school. My brother went to a grammar school so I called him my brainy brother, that always makes me laugh still, even though it’s from 1967. 

Interview: Lottie Elton; image: Frankie Stone

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Swindon, Station Road, Swindon, UK