A FORMER deputy prime minister has become the latest Labour Party stalwart to visit Keighley as part of the General Election campaign.

John Prescott, who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, dropped into the town centre today afternoon to speak to shoppers and meet local Labour campaigners.

The famously outspoken party grandee raised smiles with a slip of the tongue when he said that "the north and Scotland must say to Mrs Tha- well, obviously May, but she's Thatcher really." But he went on to passionately set out Labour's case for the seat.

He was accompanied by his party’s parliamentary candidate for Keighley John Grogan, as well as former Keighley MP Ann Cryer, and Keighley East ward councillors Doreen Lee and Malcolm Slater.

Baron Prescott, who has been a member of the House of Lords since 2010, met staff and shoppers at Coffee Love in Keighley Market Hall. He said he had fond memories of previous visits to Keighley.

He argued that Labour’s own manifesto, in contrast to that of the Conservatives, was a “Manifesto for the North” which includes a plan to improve the region’s infrastructure and also explains where the money will come from to achieve this.

“John Grogan has always advocated that and I’m delighted to be here with him,” he added.

“The money they get from the Brexit negotiations must not just go into central Government. What money the north gets from Europe now must come back to this region.

“It was a Labour government that delivered last time. In 1997 we said we needed to reduce [school] class sizes, rescue the health service and deal with record homelessness and that’s what we did. We’re a party of delivery. Theresa May changes her mind constantly and she’s even adopted some of our own proposals, such as controls on electricity prices. She wants us to trust her on the negotiations for Brexit when there’s nothing in the Conservative manifesto about Brexit.”

Baron Prescott said Mr Grogan would be a strong voice for Keighley, noting that he does not always necessarily follow the party line.

Mr Grogan said: “We started our campaign on a bit of a defensive note, and we were looking at what seats we could hold onto.

“But now it seems closer and we’re looking at what seats we can win. If this was only about people under the age of 25 I’m sure we would win. But the message I’ve been getting from pensioners is more ‘we’re not sure’, which reflects some of the recent debates around social care and winter fuel payments.”

Among the members of the public who met Baron Prescott in the market hall was retired joiner and Keighley resident Harry Beevers, who was sporting a Labour Party sticker on his mobility scooter.

Mr Beevers, a former chairman of Keighley Pensioners Action Group, said he had no doubt as to where his postal vote would go. “Theresa May has done nothing for us,” he said.

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