Brexit and b****: Watch the moment Jeremy Corbyn is heckled in front of the Labour battle bus in Blackpool

Sandgrown'uns don't typically shy away from making their feelings known - especially at the Brexit referendum when they overwhelmingly voted to leave the European Union.
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And one cheeky local shouted "Brexit" in answer to Jeremy Corbyn's seemingly hypothetical question while on the General Election campaign trail in Blackpool earlier today.

Speaking in front of the Labour Party's battle-bus, Mr Corbyn said he had been speaking to Blackpool North and Cleveleys's candidate Chris Webb and asked him: "What's the thing you want from a Labour government that will help Blackpool?"

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Addressing the crowd, he said: "Do you know what he said?", before pausing for breath and allowing the quick-thinking member of the public to shout up.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to the media in St John's Square in Blackpool during General Election campaigning (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to the media in St John's Square in Blackpool during General Election campaigning (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to the media in St John's Square in Blackpool during General Election campaigning (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)

Apparently unphased, the Labour leader continued: "End the poverty of the poorest people in Blackpool. End the need for food banks. End the way in which Universal Credit operates. End the way in which the private rented sector is so expensive and so out of reach for so many people."

And, just as he finished his rousing speech, which talked of Labour having "absolute confidence we will get our message across" and attracted cheers and several supportive yells, another heckler shouted: "What a load of b*******!"

"Yeah, dead right," another chimed in.

Mr Corbyn attempted to win over Brexit-backing Blackpool with a vision for drastic change, but the odd heckle demonstrated the difficulty he will face preventing the EU overshadowing his election campaign.

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He announced an "education for all" legacy with six years of free education for every adult so they can study and retrain if he wins the General Election.

Mr Corbyn was met by cheering supporters on the streets of the seaside resort, but he also received the occasional word of criticism, as Labour treads a fine line over Brexit while campaigning to create a "fairer, more just society" with a "green industrial revolution" to tackle the climate crisis.

The exchange captured by a Gazette camera demonstrated the threat Labour faces from Tories targeting its seats in the north-west of England.

Labour is campaigning on the basis of holding a further referendum on Brexit, with both Remain and leaving under a new deal being options, while the Tories are using the snappy slogan of "get Brexit done".

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Blackpool as an area voted 67.5 per cent Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, the 27th highest Leave vote in the country.

Labour shadow education minister Gordon Marsden, the Parliamentary candidate for Blackpool South, has held his seat since 1997, but it ranks at number 28 on a list of Labour seats most vulnerable to the Tories.

His majority in 2017 was just 2,523, down slightly from 2,585 in 2015.

This time, a swing of 3.7 per cent would be enough for Blackpool South to change hands.

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Nonetheless, Labour won a majority of votes cast in 2017 (just over 50 per cent), with the Conservatives second (43 per cent) and Ukip a distant third (four per cent).

Mr Webb is seeking to overhaul Blackpool North and Cleveleys from the Tories since its creation in 2010. Paul Maynard is the Conservative candidate there.

Also posing a threat is the Brexit Party, which is planning to stand in Blackpool South.

But Nigel Farage's insurgent band may have only a minor impact on what has long been an exclusively Labour-Conservative battleground.