Back when Ken Loach made 2014’s Jimmy’s Hall, rumours circulated that it would be the veteran British director’s last film. Instead, he came roaring back with his Cannes-winning I, Daniel Blake and a heart-breaking look at the gig economy, Sorry We Missed You, two films set in England’s north-east. He returns to the region for his new movie, The Old Oak, completing an unofficial trilogy; and what is, this time, almost certainly his final feature film. It was, he says, a case of unfinished business.

‘Our thread through all the things Paul [Laverty, screenwriter] and I have done, has been work and how work has changed,’ explains Loach, when we meet in a modest hotel room during the Cannes Film Festival. Due to the demands of capitalism, he argues, ‘there’s a constant pressure to increase the exploitation of labour. That means insecurity at work. It means the end of the eight-hour day. It means the end of the sustainable wage. Not only that, but also there are whole areas where old industries are gone.’

Set around the titular crumbling pub, The Old Oak is the perfect microcosm, taking place in a ravaged former mining community, all but ignored by Westminster. It also happens to be the place where Syrian refugees are dumped by an uncaring British government, causing consternation among locals who feel their own needs are being overlooked. Loach’s deep-seated humanity extends here to those displaced around the globe: ‘people who are left with a need to leave their countries for their own safety’.

In spite of all this, this is one of Loach’s more hopeful films, as The Old Oak landlord TJ (Dave Turner) befriends refugee Yara (Ebla Mari), a friendship that blossoms as they resolve to bring locals and Syrians together and find comfort in the idea of community. After rejecting the racist regulars in his pub who want the Syrians shipped out, he opens up his bar’s backroom to help feed those in need; a solidarity, he says, that stemmed from the traditions of the miners. 

‘It’s very much that we support each other; and there’s a strength in that,’ says Loach. ‘Once they get to see each other, they sit alongside each other and laugh. That’s the hope in the film. We have that within us. You’re in trouble, I’ll give you a hand; I’m in trouble, you’ll pull me up. That’s waiting to be expressed. It’s what we hope.’ It is, of course, something that’s at the core of Loach’s socialist beliefs. ‘We only win if we’re a collective,’ he adds. ‘We can’t win as individuals.’ 

It’s been this way for Loach ever since the mid-1960s when his early, angry works like Cathy Come Home and Poor Cow exposed uncaring aspects of British society. At that time, Loach was heavily influenced by the new left-wing, anti-Stalinist, anti-Washington movements. ‘As your idea of politics was formed, your idea of cinema was formed,’ he notes. While he’s been a frequent target of the right-wing British press, he’s never been swayed from his staunch beliefs. 

His work has often turned the spotlight on deprived areas of the UK, though it wasn’t until he met Glasgow-born Laverty (when they made 1996’s Carla’s Song with Robert Carlyle) that he found such a like-minded creative partner. Since then, Loach’s career has seen him elevated from well-respected to one of world cinema’s finest, with films such as alcoholism drama My Name Is Joe and Irish War Of Independence tale, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, which won Loach his first (long overdue) Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes. 

Still, the question remains whether The Old Oak will be Loach’s last feature. He turned 87 in June, and the idea of fronting another production feels like a mountain too far. ‘I can’t see myself getting around the course again. It’s quite demanding. I mean, we only shoot for six weeks, but it’s keeping the emotional energy going.’ Physically, it’s beginning to take its toll, he admits. ‘Just the normal things you do . . . when you get really old, they just get harder to deal with. I think it’s going to be difficult. Maybe a little documentary.’ Then he pauses. ‘I’d love to do another feature . . . I mean, who wouldn’t?’

The Old Oak is in cinemas from Friday 29 September.