PRIMARY schoolchildren handed out leaflets calling free school meals for all outside the Labour conference this morning.

They sang, gave speeches and posted postcards with their calls to government as part of the National Education Union’s (NEU’s) Free School Meals for All national van tour.

Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson said: “Shame on those people who walked past the young people who refused to take a leaflet because what we hear from the children today is that we cannot afford to let our children starve.

“We need a decision and we need a decision now.”

Referring to reports saying Sir Keir Starmer would call for “short- term pain for long-term gain” in his first speech to conference as prime minister, she added: “Our children cannot afford to wait for change to happen.

“We were elected on a mandate for change so let that change start with giving us universal free school meals for all children across the country.”

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede urged Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves: “Don’t turn your backs on these children.”

He said: “We are living in a time where there are record levels of child poverty.

“It’s a real no brainer: they are free in London, free in Wales — they should be free for the children of Liverpool, for Leicester, for Leeds, for everywhere else in England as well.”

He added: “Forget Taylor Swift tickets, forget freebies: the only freebie that these children are interested in is a hot, nutritious lunch to help them get through the school day, so Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves: don’t turn your backs on these children.”

NEU president Phil Clarke explained non-means tested free school meals would remove the lifelong stigma attached to receiving them.