In a bid to end confusion over Labour policy on immigration, Jeremy Corbyn relaunched the party's approach to Brexit on Tuesday morning with a notable change in tone for the party on the burning issue.
The key phrase, from a speech he was due to deliver later in the day, has been “Labour is not wedded to Freedom of Movement on principle.”
The move marks a shift by Corbyn, who up to now has strongly defended free movement and put himself at odds with Labour MPs who are demanding curbs on immigration.
However, Corbyn has told the BBC he stands by his view that immigration to the UK is not too high. He said he was not proposing new restrictions on the rights of people to move to the UK.
The focus, he said, should be on ending the exploitation of low-skilled workers and more local recruitment - which he said would “probably” reduce overall numbers.
Corbyn, who has continually insisted that EU migration to the UK is not too high, was asked if he had now changed his opinion. He replied: “No. My mind is quite clear that we need to end the exploitation tha''s going on, we need to maintain a market access within Europe and we need to ensure there are good relations between all communities.”
There has been growing support among senior Labour figures for restrictions on freedom of movement, although EU leaders have said this is incompatible with continued membership of the single market.
In the speech at Peterborough later during the day, Corbyn would also pledge to campaign to stay in the single market.
Although in the speech he planned to say he wants “fair” and “managed” levels of immigration, and a clampdown on abusive practices at work by many employers, he stuck to his guns on immigration. Does he think that the current levels, with 190,000 EU citizens coming to the UK last year, are too high? “No.”
The Labour leader has repeatedly defended the rights of people to come to the UK and refused to put a limit on numbers.
