Jeremy Corbyn says Labour would deliver ‘fair’ immigration policy but refuses to ‘get into a numbers game’

Asked about his links with IRA-associated rallies in the 1980s, party leader says: 'All bombing has to be condemned and you have to bring about a peace process'

The Labour leader also said the benefit freeze for working-age people in Britain will eventually come to an end (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has said if he wins the general election his administration would deliver a “fair” immigration policy, but refused to be drawn on whether he would bring down the numbers coming into the country.

Speaking on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Corbyn repeated his stance that the free movement of people “obviously ends” when Britain exits the European Union “because it’s a condition of the membership”.

He continued: “I want there to be fair immigration based on the needs of our society. That is the proper way of approaching it.

“I want us to have a society that works and I cannot get into a numbers game because I don’t think it works.

It comes after a report claimed reducing immigration to the tens of thousands could have “catastrophic consequences” for the British economy. The analysis by the think tank Global Future suggested that the Conservative pledge on immigration, which has never been met since being introduced in 2009 by David Cameron, is “backward looking”.

It added that a net migration figure in excess of 200,000 – double the Government’s target – is required to “avoid collapse of whole sectors” and alleviate pressures on the NHS and social care.

Mr Corbyn also defended his links with IRA-associated rallies in the 1980s, saying that it had been necessary to bring about a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

“All bombing has to be condemned and you have to bring about a peace process. In the 1980s Britain was looking for a military solution in Ireland. It clearly was never going to work,” he said.

“Therefore you have to seek a peace process. You condemn the violence of those that laid bombs that killed large of numbers of innocent people and I do.”

The Labour leader also said the benefit freeze for working-age people in Britain will eventually come to end after confusion earlier this when the party launched its manifesto in Bradford.