Jeremy Corbyn admitted his party had a "mountain to climb" to regain power from the Conservatives, as the left-winger delivered the final speech of Labour's annual conference in Liverpool today (28 September).

The newly re-elected leader also urged Labour to "end the trench warfare", with a warning that Prime Minister Theresa May could call a snap general election in the wake of the EU referendum.

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"That's why the central task of the whole Labour party, must be to rebuild trust and support to win the next general election and form the next government," he said.

"That is the government I am determined to lead, to win power to change Britain for the benefit of working people."

He added: "It's true there's an electoral mountain to climb. But if we focus everything on the needs and aspirations of middle and lower income voters, of ordinary families, if we demonstrate we've got a viable alternative to the government's failed economic policies, I'm convinced we can build the electoral support that can beat the Tories."

Corbyn enjoyed numerous standing ovations throughout the long addresses, but a small number of delegates walked out of the conference hall when he defended his decision to apologise on behalf of Labour for the Iraq War.

"The consequences of those wars have been the spread of terrorism, sectarianism and violence across an arc of conflict that has displaced millions of people forcing them from their countries," he said.

The leader also unveiled some policies, with a promise to launch a review into self-employment and a pledge to ban UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia if the country is linked to war crimes.

Corbyn also addressed Britain's decision to split from the EU. He said migrants were not to blame for the undercutting of wages and said Labour would not offer "false promises" on immigration, a reference to David Cameron's pledge to cut net migration levels down to "tens of thousands".

"We will tackle the real issues of immigration instead whatever the eventual outcome of the Brexit negotiations and make the changes that are needed," he added.

The point was one of the most controversial parts of Corbyn's speech, with immigration dominating the EU referendum campaign and more than 70% of Labour seats backing a Brexit at the historic ballot.

Yvette Cooper, the head of Labour's refugee task-force, had backed a cut to low-skilled migration just hours earlier.

Elsewhere, Corbyn promised to make "unpatriotic" tax avoidance a "thing of the past", while warning companies will have to pay more tax to help pay for a "National Education Service".

The speech comes weeks ahead of Corbyn's next electoral test as Labour leader, the Witney and West Oxfordshire by-election on 20 October. The Conservatives are expected to retain David Cameron's old seat after the former prime minister secured a majority of more than 25,000 votes at the general election. But Westminster watchers will keep a close eye on Labour's performance after the party secured a second place in May.

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