THERESA May visited Bradford tonight to make an eleventh hour appeal for voters to back the Conservative Party in Thursday’s General Election.

The Prime Minister arrived at the Provident stadium, in Odsal, at around 8pm to deliver a rallying call before the district’s residents go to the polls.

As Mrs May arrived, supporters held up placards containing slogans such as ‘The Best Brexit deal’ and ‘A Secure Nation.’ She spoke to a room-full of Tory supporters for about ten minutes, emphasising how much “Brexit matters” to the country.

Among those who gathered to greet Mrs May at the rain-soaked home of the Bradford Bulls was Bradford South Conservative Parliamentary candidate Tanya Graham, the party’s Bradford West candidate George Grant, the Tory Bradford East candidate Mark Trafford.

Amid rapturous applause, she said: “I believe passionately that we are going to build a better Britain for the future.”

She said the opportunities provided by Brexit were “enormous” and spoke about the desire to create a country that is “globally outward-looking.”

“We want to do great things,” she added.

Mrs May spoke of her determination to “forge new trade agreements around the world.”

Asked by the Telegraph & Argus what a Conservative MP in inner city Bradford would do, she said: “If we win a seat it means we have got a Conservative MP that can work with the Government.”

She said the Modern Industrial Strategy was designed to create jobs across the country in areas of “specific need”, adding that Bradford would be looked at closely as part of that process.

Mrs May was asked whether more money would be available to West Yorkshire Police to tackle increasing gun crime, to which she said police budgets had been protected and that it was up to each force to use that money as efficiently as they could. 

She also acknowledged the concerns nationally about dangerous driving and said a government campaign seeking feedback from a consultation exercise on tougher sentencing had a huge response and they were looking at the results.

She spoke of establishing an integration strategy to counter Islamist terrorism in society and teaching people how to recognise the signs and deal with it.

"We need to deal with not just Islamatist terrorism, but with extremism which can lead to terrorism," she said.

The Bradford visit completed a busy day of campaigning for Mrs May, which had started with a speech in London before a visit to Scotland.

During the Edinburgh leg of her itinerary, the Prime Minister joined Ruth Davidson at Clockwork Removals and Storage in the Scottish capital to address Conservative supporters.

Minutes before Mrs May and the Scottish Tory leader arrived at the business, an organiser told the group of around 70 people to give them an enthusiastic welcome.

Supporters cheered and waved placards as requested as the pair arrived on the Tory Battle Bus in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

Earlier, during a speech to the Royal United Services Institute, Mrs May said: “In three days, the British People will choose who they want to lead this country through the next five years. Five years that will define the future of our country for generations to come.

“I called this election because, as we face the start of the crucial Brexit negotiations in just a few short days.

“I believed it would be essential for the British Government to be in the strongest possible position going into those talks.

“That remains the most critical issue in this campaign.”

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