By Alan Roden

IT will be the most important speech of Jeremy Corbyn’s political career. On Wednesday, the leader of the opposition will deliver his keynote speech at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton.

Almost certain to lead the news bulletins and reach far beyond the acolytes in the auditorium, it is his opportunity to present himself as Prime-Minister-in-Waiting.

This is, to all intents and purposes, a pre-election conference.

Voters scunnered by Brexit, Boris, or both, want to hear if Jeremy Corbyn is finally ready to step up and lead the country in these turbulent times.

It is the last time the party will be able to put forward its case uninterrupted, outside the election campaign.

The stakes couldn’t be higher.

It hasn’t been an easy few months for Labour: humiliated in the European elections after failing to deliver a coherent message; still struggling to get to grips with antisemitism within the party; and somewhat overshadowed by the resurgent LibDems.

Going into conference, the party even finds itself in third place across the UK, according to two polls published this week.

A temporary bounce for Jo Swinson following her impressive conference performance and the clear – if controversial – pledge to stop Brexit without another vote? Time will tell.

But a sizeable Corbyn conference bounce is now an absolute must for Labour by the end of the coming week.

The Labour leader’s Commons performances have undoubtedly improved recently, winning plaudits from many long-term sceptics.

It is within his gift to walk off the stage on Wednesday with a spring in his step ahead of the expected election campaign. There is an open goal.

And yet pre-conference chatter suggests he risks scoring in his own net.

According to briefings, Mr Corbyn is going to remain ‘neutral’ on Brexit.

Neutral on the biggest issue facing the country in modern times. Neutral on the most divisive issue in British society. Neutral on something that will define the UK’s economic path for decades to come.

What an abdication of responsibility that would be.

It would be a catastrophic failure to fulfil the main task of being a leader: to lead.

If Mr Corbyn wants to emerge from this conference in a position to challenge for the job of Prime Minister, he simply must commit to campaigning tirelessly to remain in the EU.

He must put aside his longstanding Euroscepticism and listen to his members and voters.

Ninety per cent of the motions submitted to the conference call for the party to back Remain in any second referendum.

John McDonnell, Emily Thornberry and Tom Watson have all said they would campaign to stay in the EU regardless of any Brexit deal negotiated by Labour.

As MP Marsha de Cordova said, ‘there is no middle ground when it comes to campaigning in an EU referendum’.

We live in an age of populism, and there is no space for nuanced messaging on binary constitutional issues.

Boris Johnson’s message is clear – Brexit, whatever the cost; the LibDems’ message is clear – stop Brexit; the SNP’s message is clear – leave the UK.

Following the LibDem conference policy announcement, there is an opportunity for Labour to now position itself clearly as the only UK-wide party ready to put Brexit back to the people.

But if Mr Corbyn wants to seize that opportunity, he must be clear about what Labour would campaign for should that opportunity arise, and how he would vote himself.

If he commits unequivocally to fighting to remain, he can bring together the warring factions in his party in readiness for an election.

More importantly, he will show the country that he is ready to lead.

But if he havers the conference will resort to in-fighting, gifting political journalists the civil war they crave.

There will be private spats and public fall-outs. Len McCluskey will lash out; moderates will respond. The public will look away in disgust.

And no matter how much the hard left cries foul, it will be absolutely nobody’s fault but Jeremy Corbyn’s.

The Labour Party is a broad church and there will always be internal disagreements, but Mr Corbyn has a rare opportunity ahead of him to unite his party in opposition to Boris Johnson’s extreme brand of Conservatism.

This coming week is the most pivotal moment for the future of the Labour Party since it was kicked out of office in 2010.

It is an opportunity for the party to explain to the country how it will change modern Britain for the better, with eye-catching policy announcements that make the news headlines.

Yet, inexplicably, there are some who would rather focus on the wording on their membership cards than speak to the country.

These cards are new to hard left entryists, but for long-serving members they have carried the legend that Labour ‘believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone’ ever since Tony Blair tore up Clause IV.

It was part of his mission to modernise the party and make it electable.

Now Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), controlled by Mr Corbyn’s supporters, has decided to set up a working group to examine changing the document.

The inevitable consequence is a return to 1970s pre-Blair era language, committing to full public ownership, and placing another obstacle in the path of a return to power.

The ultimate triumph over Blairism would come with a cost: another Tory election victory.

And just in case those currently in charge of Labour hadn’t already made the journey back to power difficult enough, they have also decided to abolish its student wing.

These are the footsoldiers who deliver Labour victories in the cities that can lead to government. When even student politics isn’t radical enough for the Labour leadership, it shows how far to the left the party has travelled.

On top of that, the leadership has managed to infuriate Welsh Labour, ruling that the NEC – not the executive committee of the Welsh Labour Party – is in charge of how its MPs are reselected. Yet another branch office under central control.

The country doesn’t care about this naval gazing. It is not a time for self-indulgence. Mr Corbyn and allies should be making sure that distractions are pushed to one side to focus on the people who can really make a difference – the voters watching at home.

It is not too late. The shambolic build-up will be forgotten if Mr Corbyn pulls off a successful conference.

But success isn’t a standing ovation in the Brighton conference centre; it is winning over sceptical voters across the country.

The goal is wide open. He can’t afford to miss.