PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has described the Conservatives’ lack of commitment over future funding for schools and children’s centres as “unacceptable”.

On a visit to the Meadowbank Sure Start Centre in Atherton, which forms part of the key Bolton West constituency, Mr Brown stressed the important of investment in young people.

Speaking exclusively to The Bolton News, the Labour Party leader said: “I am delighted to be able to see the good work that centres such as this one does.My mother used to say that preschool provisions were that you were born, had your vaccinations and then started school.

The Sure Start Centres provide somewhere for children from six weeks old.

“They are vital for mothers who would have been previously isolated because they give them a chance to meet other people in the same position and get any help they need.

“The Conservatives cannot guarantee the level of funding in centres such as this and cannot guarantee funding in schools, which is unacceptable.

“We know they cannot guarantee it because they have ideas such as the tax break for married couples and they cannot afford to do both.”

Bolton West is seen as an important battleground for Labour and the Conservatives because it has been identified as the seat the Tories need to win if they are to have any chance of forming the next Government.

Sure Start Centres and future investment in the Building Schools for the Future programme in Bolton were “key” election issues, according to Mr Brown, who also pledged a reform of the political system.

When asked about the widening gap between the public and politicians, Mr Brown said: “We have promised a reform to change the political system, with a new House of Commons and a new House of Lords.”

Mr Brown, who was accompanied by his wife Sarah, looked at ease as he chatted to children in the playground of the centre in full glare of the national media.

After a tour of the centre with Labour candidate Julie Hilling, who is hoping to succeed retiring Labour MP Ruth Kelly, Mr Brown chatted with parents about what the centre offers.

When told by one young mum that she had twins, Mr Brown said: “They’re quite a handful aren’t they. They will get used to being around each other.”

He and Mrs Brown posed for pictures with staff and signed the centre’s visitors book before Mr Brown was whisked off to Manchester to prepare for last night’s TV debate at the Granada Television studios.