We are in the final furlong of an election campaign that feels like it has been going on forever.

Today and tomorrow both main party leaders are doing a final tour of the country to drum up support - and this morning Jeremy Corbyn was in the north west, delivering a stump speech in Blackrod in Bolton before being whisked by the Labour battle bus off into Lancashire.

Crowds of supporters braved icy rain to hear the Labour leader address the party faithful, including a denouncement of pressures at the Royal Bolton hospital , which we reported yesterday has been put on ‘black alert’ , meaning it is deemed ‘unable to provide comprehensive care’.

Labour has, he told activists, ‘until Thursday night to win this election, Thursday night to save the NHS, Thursday night to end child poverty in Britain, Thursday night to end homelessness in Britain, Thursday night to build the houses we think we need, Thursday night to get a government you can trust’.

He was then whisked off to the next stop on the campaign trail - Nelson - and the M.E.N. was invited along on the bus with him.

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We took the opportunity to put some of the more challenging responses we’ve had to the Labour message when we have been reporting on the mood on the ground in Greater Manchester seats, including concerns about his leadership, anti-semitism and the party’s economic credibility.

M.E.N : We’ve been out in constituencies here trying to base our coverage on what people are telling us about the election. And I wanted to put to you a few of the things that are coming up a lot.

Obviously we do have a significant Jewish population and the Jewish voters we’ve spoken to have said they cannot vote Labour in this election. They might be able to come back to Labour in the future, but the anti-semitism issues are making them anxious and worried about what the country would look like under a Labour government.

Do you understand why they’re saying that and what would your message be to them?

Jeremy Corbyn : I’m very disappointed they’re saying that, of course.

I will guarantee complete security for synagogues, cemeteries, schools. And I’ve spent my life opposing racism and since I became leader of the party we’ve a process that deals with it.

(Image: Getty Images)

I was concerned the process was very slow. A number of people drew my attention to that and it was partly because of legal arguments and partly because of insufficiency of staff and processes, so we’ve expanded the size of the National Constitutional Committee, expanded the government legal unit and in July I introduced a rule change for egregious cases to be fast tracked and that’s happened.

We’ve also introduced an education programme as well in co-operation with the community as a whole so that there can be an education process understanding just how horrible, hurtful and dangerous anti-semitism is.

M.E.N : When Labour supporters say Jewish people feel like that because of it having been whipped up by the media, is that something you agree with?

JC : [Pause] I think... we just have to say the issue is: anti-semitism is an evil in our society and I have spent my life opposing racism and always will.

M.E.N : One of the things that comes up often on the doorstep is actually not necessarily Brexit first, but yourself.

And in certain working class areas in particular, people just aren’t convinced by you as a leader. If you don’t win a majority on Friday, is that going to be a personal failure?

(Image: PA)

JC : Obviously we’re working to win a majority on Friday.

I lead in a different way to others, I spend quite a lot of time listening to people, I try and bring consensus together and I have developed party policies that were not as developed before and taken the party in the direction of opposing austerity because I think the inequalities in Britain have to be addressed by Labour.

My style of leadership is different to others. I understand that. I’m not a dictator, I’m somebody that is democratically elected to lead the party and I believe in giving voice to all sections of the party.

That isn’t weakness, that’s actually strength.

M.E.N : One of the senses we’ve had is that when we’ve been to more middle class areas, like say Manchester Withington, you and the party and the manifesto are much more popular.

But when we go to more traditional Labour heartland places, more working class areas, people are not convinced and don’t necessarily see Labour’s platform as credible.

Are you still the party of the working class, or are you now really a party of the middle class?

(Image: Getty Images)

JC : We are absolutely a party of the working class and absolutely a party supported by trade unions, which are of course themselves working class organisations.

The issue of poverty, jobs and rights are absolutely central to the future of our society, hence the living wage of £10 an hour, hence the end of Universal Credit and the investment in good jobs through the green industrial revolution.

A Labour government will make an awful lot of difference to people’s lives, particularly those communities that have seen nothing since Margaret Thatcher and the Tories destroyed the manufacturing industry.

M.E.N : Why is it, then, that the people in those areas - when your message is aimed at them - why are they not embracing it wholeheartedly when we’re asking them about it?

JC : [Pause] I think the message has to get through that we cannot go on with these levels of inequality in Britain. We will not.

And a Labour government will actually transform things for the better, for a very large number of people.

I don’t want to live in a country where we underfund things so much that so many people rely on food banks.

And do you know what? If all of our manifestos was carried out, it takes us just about to the levels of public services of France or Germany.

That’s how far backwards we’ve gone, ever since Margaret Thatcher stepped into Downing Street in 1979.

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