YOUNG voices must be central to Your Party, Jeremy Corbyn has told a packed rally at Manchester Cathedral.

Speaking ahead of the party’s inaugural conference in Liverpool, the independent MP for Islington North said that the proposed minimum age for membership was 16, but it may even go lower.

He told the meeting on Tuesday night that young people were “shortchanged” in society and underlined the need for a “fully functioning and autonomous youth section within the party.”

“ We need to have the voice of young people absolutely central in the party, making those demands on education, on housing and on the way in which the job market can work for them in the future,” Mr Corbyn said.

Delegates to this weekend’s conference will be chosen through a sortition process, using a lottery to ensure a fair balance with regard to gender, region and background.

Mr Corbyn said that the system would result in a “genuine cross-section,” adding: “ It doesn’t disenfranchise others. It’s novel, it’s different.”

The former Labour leader outlined his desire for Your Party to put together “real alternatives” as the government increases its military budget. 

“ Last year, $2.4 trillion [£1.8trn] was spent on arms around the world. 

“Imagine if only 10 per cent of that would have gone to the World Food Programme, gone to the United Nations, gone to overseas aid, gone to investment in problems. Surely we’d have a much safer, a much more secure world as a result of that.”

Your Party’s founding conference will take place at the Liverpool ACC this Saturday and Sunday.