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Jeremy Corbyn today made a dramatic offer to Theresa May to do a deal on Brexit.

The Labour leader said that if she agreed to the UK staying in a customs union, and several other changes to her Chequers blueprint for leaving the EU, he could back such a “sensible deal”.

Mr Corbyn made the surprise move in his speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool. He also called for party “unity” in the face of a possible early general election.

The Prime Minister’s Brexit plan is under fire from Brussels, her own party and the Opposition.

But Mr Corbyn said: “If you deliver a deal that includes a customs union and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, people’s rights at work and environmental and consumer standards ... then we will support that sensible deal ... a deal that would be backed by most of the business world and trade unions too.”

Repeating his call for a general election, Mr Corbyn, who is due to meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier tomorrow, added pointedly: “But if you can’t negotiate that deal ... then you need to make way ... for a party that can.” It was not clear how his offer would go down among Labour delegates, the Government or the EU. MPs may see Mr Corbyn’s proposal as an attempt to put pressure on Mrs May ahead of the Conservative Party conference next week rather than a serious overture. Even so, the move opened up the faint possibility of a Commons majority for a Brexit deal.

It would mean Mrs May riding roughshod over one of her own red lines, which is that the UK will leave the customs union. And any such agreement between the party leaders could still be rejected by EU leaders.

Mrs May would also face fury from Tory Right-wingers if she sided with Mr Corbyn’s proposal.

After days of division at Labour’s conference over Brexit, Mr Corbyn called on his party to “listen a bit more and shout a lot less”.

The Labour leader set out principles of “no more forgotten communities” and “a different kind of Britain” to explain how Labour would govern with a “radical” agenda if it won an election.

Mr Corbyn also told the party faithful that they must create “a greater culture of tolerance” and stamp out abuse of individuals after a year of bitter rows over anti-Semitism and moderate MPs being threatened with deselection.

“If we are to get the chance to put those values into practice in government, we are going to need unity to do it,” he said.

Mr Corbyn stopped short of apologising for the anti-Semitism storm in Labour, but vowed to “fight with every breath” to eradicate it.

He also put his party on an election war-footing, saying the fragility of Mrs May’s Government, divided by Brexit, meant that Labour could be in power by the time of the next conference in autumn 2019.

“When we meet at this time next year, let it be as a Labour government, investing in Britain after years of austerity and neglect, bringing our country together after a decade of division,” he said. “Labour is ready, confident in our ideas, clear in our plans, committed to rebuild Britain.”

But to win, Labour needed to broaden its appeal beyond its core Left-wing vote. “Our party must speak for the overwhelming majority in our country,” he said. The party must offer “the new common sense” and occupy “the new centre ground,” he argued.

However, in words that will alarm the financial sector, Mr Corbyn ferociously laid into the City. “We can no longer tolerate a set-up where the real economy, in which millions work, is just a sort of sideshow for the City of London and for banks fixated on piling up profits around the world,” he said.

He vowed to “democratise” the economy, echoing shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s plan to give workers shares that would provide them with a say in the running of firms. The CBI has said Labour risks “cracking the foundations of this country’s prosperity” with such policies.

Mr Corbyn also denounced “greed-is-good capitalism” and offer a “green jobs revolution” to create 400,000 skilled posts. In another key section of his address, Mr Corbyn appealed to “the older generation who built modern Britain”. This included a pledge to continue the triple-lock on pensions, free bus passes, and the winter fuel allowance for the elderly. The promises, painted as “solidarity between the generations”, appeared to be a response to polling evidence that shows pensioners are the most consistently hostile group of voters to Labour.

And targeting Tory voters, he added: “We must speak for the people to whom Theresa May promised so much but has delivered so little.”