Express & Star

Tories can close the deal in the Black Country - Grayling

The Leave vote in the EU referendum can help the Conservative Party ‘close the deal’ in the General Election by reaching out to non-Tories in the Black Country and Staffordshire, a senior cabinet member has said.

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Chris Grayling, second right, with Express & Star Editor Keith Harrison, second left, and Wolverhampton parliamentary candidates Sarah Macken, left, and Paul Uppal, right.

Chris Grayling says the strength of the Brexit vote across the region will have a significant impact at polling booths on June 8, with Jeremy Corbyn’s shambolic leadership driving traditional Labour voters away from the party in their droves.

The Transport Secretary visited the Express & Star’s Queen Street offices with Wolverhampton parliamentary candidates Paul Uppal and Sarah Macken.

Mr Grayling was one of the key players in the Vote Leave campaign and insists that Brexit will be the main issue on many people’s minds when they vote next month.

“I think Brexit will have a highly significant impact on the election,” he said.

“There is a very strong block of Leave support in the Black Country and Staffordshire, as I experienced myself when I came here during the referendum campaign.

“But even among those who voted Remain, there is a sense that they just want to accept the decision and for us to get on with it.

“I think people are looking at the options and seeing Theresa May’s strong leadership, and Jeremy Corbyn who can’t even state clearly whether or not he would take us out of the EU or not.

“All we are saying is that it is a fact that every vote for a Conservative at this election strengthens Theresa May’s hand at the negotiations.

“The larger the share of the vote we get around the country, the stronger her hand will be in Brussels.”

Mr Grayling has visited almost 50 constituencies since Theresa May called the snap General Election on April 18.

He said his experiences on the campaign suggested there were ‘significant numbers’ of voters who could abandon their traditional party loyalties and turn to Mrs May.

“The party is reaching out to people who may not traditionally be Conservative,” he said.

“We hope it will prove to have worked on June 8. There are a block of people out there who share our values but who don’t vote Conservative.

“What has happened over the last few months, firstly through the Brexit result, and through the way Theresa May is leading the party and the country, and also helped by the complete shambles that is the Labour party…there are a lot of people out there who are saying…you know, I might vote Conservative.

“Our job is to get to those people. We have to get out and close the deal on the doorsteps.”

He added: “I talk to people who voted UKIP who are going to come to us now.

“I think they understand that if they want to leave the EU smoothly then the very last thing the country needs is Jeremy Corbyn being propped up by the Lib Dems who want a second referendum and Nicola Sturgeon who doesn’t want to leave the EU.”

Mr Grayling said he strongly believes that the Conservative manifesto proves that the party are committed to representing everyone in Britain.

He accused Labour of scaremongering by criticising proposed Tory changes to elderly social care. On plans to ditch the ‘triple lock’ pension pledge and replace it with a ‘double lock’, he said: “We are going to continue to increase the state pension in line with earnings or in line with inflation, whichever is the higher.

“We are the party that reintroduced the link to earnings after all the Labour years when the economy was doing well and they refused to do it.

“We introduced a more generous state pension than we had previously. The Labour party is saying pensioners have been betrayed.

“I am proud to be part of a government that has re-linked the state pension to earnings and is committed to that going forward.”

Mr Grayling was adamant that there would be widespread support for Conservative plans to means test the winter fuel allowance. “I think most people in the Black Country would think it should be paid to people on low pensions and not to millionaires,” he said.

“The truth is that people who are currently getting very generous pensions from their employers, for example, are currently entitled to a contribution from the state to their electricity bill.

“Our judgement is that we shouldn’t be paying it to the wealthy, we should be spending our money on the poor.”

Mr Grayling said he ‘hoped’ for rather than expected a string of Conservative victories in Black Country seats, although he insisted the region would benefit from electing Tory candidates.

Conservative Campaign Headquarters has targeted a number of seats across the region, including Wolverhampton South West, Wolverhampton North East, Dudley North and Walsall North.

“The real benefit that [the Black Country] gets from having Conservative MPs is that we are part of the same team.

“So these guys are going to be biting my ankles in the House of Commons to deliver for their constituencies, and that is something that will benefit this area in many ways.”