Jeremy Corbyn has warned the EU need to change if the UK stays as he defended the current migration rules in a sustained attack on Rangers shareholder Mike Ashley.

The Labour leader said that he was "not a lover" of the Eu as he urged the organisation to become more democratic and accountable.

Wealthy EU nations should “share our wealth” to help improve living standards at home and across Europe, he said.

But he defended the free movement of labour within the EU, just hours after similar comments infuriated some of his own MPs.

Mr Corbyn said that open borders within the EU were necessary for the single market.

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Instead he hit out at employers, including Sports Direct boss Mr Ashley, who he said exploited migrant workers.

He accused Mr Ashley's firm of employing "most" of its overseas workers on controversial zero-hours contracts.

He added: “People we should not blame are the migrants workers.. the people we should blame are the companies.”

In his only televised showdown of the campaign Mr Corbyn, who has been accused by some within his own side of running a reluctant campaign because of his own qualms about the EU, warned that remaining part of the 28-member bloc had "implications".

He said that his support for a Remain vote was "not unconditional by any means".

He hit out at the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTI), being negotiated between the EU and the US.

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And he said of Thursday's vote: "It's a big decision. If we stay in Europe there are implications, if we leave Europe there are massive implications.

"But, it is also a turning point because if we leave I don't think there is an easy way back. If we remain, I believe Europe has got to change quite dramatically to something much more democratic, much more accountable and share our wealth and improve our living standards and our working conditions all across the whole continent."

He said that he was voting to stay in the EU because it was the best way to solve problems like climate change and the current refugee crisis.

But he suggested that he would defy EU rules to protect the steel industry and renationalise the railways if he was prime minister.

Mr Corbyn said he voted against the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 because it was about creating a Thatcherite free market Europe with little protection for workers, and that the 2007 Lisbon Treaty was "a step in the same direction".

But the EU social chapter has won protections for workers such as four weeks holiday and maternity and paternity leave, he added.

Asked whether he had changed his mind after meeting other European leaders such as French president Mr Hollande, he said: "My head hasn't been turned by anything, my head doesn't get turned."

Today (TUES) Mr Corbyn will say that the decision comes down to one crucial question: "What’s best for jobs in Britain, rights at work and our future prosperity? "

Polls suggest that Labour voters could decide the outcome.

Earlier this month Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson admitted that around 4 in 10 of the party's traditional supporters did not know where it stood on the EU.