THERE has been much talk recently of last chance saloons. Theresa May visited multiple such joints last week as she tried to persuade her own party, then European Union leaders, to accept her plan for Brexit. After failing spectacularly on both counts she now finds herself in purgatory, awaiting the moment Tory Brexiteers finally, inevitably, bring her down.

At the other end of the political spectrum Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have descended upon Liverpool for surely the most important Labour conference in a generation. Despite spending a long, hot summer fiddling while Rome burned, becoming ever more deeply embroiled in an antisemitism row rather than putting forward a coherent position on Brexit, the party still has a chance to help lead the country away from the Brexit cliff edge.

After all, backing a second referendum on Brexit is the party’s last chance to make a meaningful, potentially game-changing contribution at this moment of crisis. If it fails to do so future generations will never forgive Mr Corbyn for blowing the chance to either stop or soften Brexit.

What is the point of Labour if it is not to protect the folk from the worst excesses of the Tories? And make no mistake, it’ll be the already brutalised millions in the middle and at the bottom who will suffer most from the no-deal Brexit we are careering towards.

Yet the mood music coming from party leadership remains as off-tune as ever. Yesterday, Mr Corbyn grudgingly conceded he would back the so-called People’s Vote if his membership absolutely insists upon it, arguing that a general election is the answer to the country’s currently problems.

Meanwhile, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said over the weekend that Labour would push ahead with Brexit if it won a snap election, insisting his party would somehow miraculously get a much better deal from the EU than the Tories, despite also having ruled out staying in the single market. Does he honestly believe Brussels will look more favourably on Labour rejecting fundamental EU principles such as free movement than the Tories? Didn’t he see President Macron’s two-fingered reaction to Mrs May’s rhetoric last week?

It is simply not credible for Labour to fight a general election on a manifesto that favours ploughing ahead with a similarly destructive Brexit when a poll would only be necessary because the Conservatives had failed to agree a plan.

Mr McDonnell also claimed during an interview that pulling back from Brexit could result in xenophobia. What planet is he living on? Can’t he see that leaving the EU hands victory on a plate to the xenophobes?

A recent tweet by his shadow cabinet colleague Barry Gardiner revealed just how twisted the logic of the party leadership has become. When asked by a despairing Labour activist why the current Brexit chaos elicited only silence from Labour, Mr Gardiner replied: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”.

The idea that keeping your mouth shout and failing to make a credible alternative case, either for a soft Brexit or no Brexit at all, makes you a suitable and trustworthy opposition when the country is heading for utter disaster is either naive, arrogant or stupid - most likely all three.

Despite continual obfuscation, it’s crystal clear that Mr Corbyn and his deputy are as Eurosceptic as many of the Tories they have spent their lives opposing. In light of this, perhaps Mr Gardiner’s tweet should more accurately have stated: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is saying something you agree with, but don’t have the guts to admit to.”

I’m not suggesting Mr Corbyn should not be allowed to oppose Britain’s EU membership. What I’m saying is that he should have been honest about it from the start. As a potential prime minister, however, he must also be able to let go of personal principles, no matter how deeply and honestly held, when the good of the country is at stake. As we have seen regularly since his election, however - most recently during the antisemitism debacle - compromise is not something that comes easy to this dogmatic old Leftie.

We must hope, therefore, that the party membership, many of whom are young people who oppose Brexit, can force common sense upon the leadership. There is overwhelming support there for a second referendum, with one recent poll suggesting 85 per cent want a say on the outcome of negotiations, with an even higher proportion in favour staying in the EU.

There would potentially be a significant electoral boost in adopting the People’s Vote, at last giving Labour a strong, distinctive and viable policy that people from across the UK - including Scotland - could get behind. And an electoral lift is exactly what the party needs; despite taking the country to the edge of the abyss, the Tories remain ahead in the polls.

Mr Corbyn now has one final opportunity to redeem himself and put country before conviction. We must hope he has the sense and humility to take it.