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The country is in the biggest crisis for decades and so is the Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn has lost control of his MPs with 46 resignations from his Shadow Cabinet and frontbench.

It is a damning rejection of his leadership. While he is a decent and principled man, it is now clear he is not cut out to unite and lead Labour through these turbulent times and beat the Tories in a snap general election.

And that is why, regretfully, the Mirror today calls on him to step down for the good of the party and the country.

We must never forget that the Labour Party exists to improve the lives of working people by fighting for higher wages, better housing, schools and NHS, and greater fairness and opportunity for all.

But to deliver that much-needed change, after years of savage Tory cuts, Labour needs to be in power.

Winning elections and forming a Government, to give the voiceless a voice, is immeasurably more effective than any placard-waving mass demo.

So a beleaguered Jeremy Corbyn should take a long hard look in the mirror, then do what is in the best interests of his party, working people and the country because, to be frank, it is increasingly hard to imagine him as a Labour Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street.

And that is the only test which really counts for any leader.

If you’re not going to be Prime Minister, you’re the wrong person for the job.

Those who have sympathy with Jeremy’s agenda should ask if he is the right man to deliver it.

And they should ask why Labour MPs from all sides of the party, not just a Blairite rump, are demanding he should go.

They have finally given up on him after his woeful referendum campaign and fear a looming general election.

Yesterday he tried to pretend it was business as usual.

But filling dozens of vacancies with inexperienced lightweights, many of them elected only a year ago, is like using a toothpick to prop up a collapsing skyscraper.

Asking them to face a right-wing Tory Cabinet of big-hitters is like putting a pub team up against a Premier League side.

And we need a heavyweight to influence our Brexit negotiations.

Jeremy undoubtedly retains support among some activists, the faithful prepared to fill halls and cheer his every word.

Yet on the ground he doesn’t connect with the Labour heartlands outside the South East.

And, crucially, if he cannot command the respect and unity of his party at Westminster, how can he expect the country to back him?

Jeremy claims he has the right to stay because he has a mandate from party members, but clinging to power increasingly looks like an act of vanity.

He is welcome to throw his hat in the ring and seek to run again.

But the Mirror believes that, with a general election looming, Labour’s best hope is to pick a new leader to be in post by September 2 when the Tories will have not only a new leader, but a new Prime Minister.

Without a credible leader who can unite and inspire the party, it will never recover power.

Without power, Labour is nothing.