Labour councillors demand Jeremy Corbyn take a tougher line on immigration to stand a chance of winning in 2020

LABOUR councillors are demanding Jeremy Corbyn takes a tougher line on immigration - saying the party has a “cat in hell’s chance” of winning the next general election.

Dozens of councillors in working class constituencies across Britain said the arch leftie must start listening to blue-collar Britain.

The blast came as Jeremy Corbyn insisted free movement had brought “massive” benefits to Britain and Labour wouldn’t ban jobless migrants coming here.

But Northumberland councillor Kathy Graham from Blyth Valley warned Labour didn’t have a “cat in hell’s chance” of winning an election.

She told the FT the Labour leader infuriated local voters.

She said: “We don’t have a cat in hell’s chance. A lot of locals aren’t going to vote for me because of Jeremy Corbyn. Mention Jeremy Corbyn and they all go mad.”

Dagenham and Rainham councillor Peter Chand added: “The feeling on the doorstep is mainly about migration.”

He said the party needed to embrace some sort of cap on immigration because Labour voters up and down the country were all worried about the impact of immigration on jobs and wages.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Jeremy Corbyn argued workers from the EU made a “massive” contribution to the economy.

He claimed there was a “level of exaggeration” about negative impacts on British communities.

He also insisted any Government work visa scheme would be “fraught with difficulties”.

He said if that was put in place it would affect British workers in Europe saying it “would be difficult to implement and maybe is counter to the principles of the European market.”

On Thursday night a Tory spokeswoman said his comment proved how “out of touch and divided” the Labour party was.

She said: ““It is increasingly clear that not only do the Labour Party have no plan to reduce immigration, they don’t even want to consider the idea.”