Free movement could also be offered up by a Labour government in fresh negotiations with Brussels. Mr Corbyn insisted his plan to strike a new exit deal with the EU and put it to a second referendum within six months was “realistic”. Brexiteers fear the Lib Dems could demand support for their proposal to revoke the Article 50 exit process in return for propping up a minority Labour government.
Mr Corbyn refused to rule out the option, telling an event in Harlow, Essex: “All I can say is, we are campaigning to win this election with a majority Labour Government.
“We are not campaigning to form a coalition with anybody, we are campaigning to go into office to carry out our manifesto.”
The Labour leader also dodged questions about whether he would offer continued free movement in talks with Brussels.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly said: “When the British people voted to leave the EU it was a vote for change. The Labour Party can’t deliver that change and are a vote for the opposite – more delay and uncertainty.
“Labour would spend 2020 having two referendums; they won’t rule out revoking Article 50 altogether and want unlimited immigration – which would put pressure on our NHS.”
Mr Corbyn set out Labour’s plans to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement within three months and then put it to a second referendum against the option to Remain within another 90 days.
He told supporters the June deadline was “do-able” but did not reject suggestions the timetable could slip.
“The deadline we have set for ourselves is a realistic one,” said Mr Corbyn.
But the “fantasy” proposal was mocked by Tories who warned it would lead only to more delay.
The Labour leader’s own Brexit spokesman, Sir Keir Starmer, who has previously called for the party to campaign for Remain, was left squirming when asked if he would back a new Labour exit deal.
“In a sense, what I am going to campaign for is secondary, what we are saying is, it’s for the country now to decide,” he said.
Sir Keir claimed the government’s Brexit deal would leave the UK “£70 billion worse off”.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the Labour plans would lead to more “pralaysing uncertainty”.
“I think it is a fantasy to imagine the EU, having worked so hard to get this withdrawal agreement, would say to Jeremy Corbyn let’s spend another six months or nine months renegotiating it,” he said.
Mr Corbyn admitted he has faced both ways on Brexit but claimed it was because he wanted to “listen to the whole country”.
“People sometimes accuse me of trying to talk to both sides at once in the Brexit debate, to people who voted Leave and Remain,” he said.
“You know what? They’re right. Why would I only want to talk to half the country?”
