We need a youth wing to beat Labour, says Pickles

THE Tories must set up a youth wing to counter Jeremy Corbyn’s appeal, an internal review has found.

Sir Eric Pickles will demand the move as part of a report into June’s election disaster.

The former Cabinet minister says Labour made all the running partly because of failures in Tory organisation and a huge surge in support from students attracted by policies on tuition fees.

He wants the group to spearhead campaigns as well as train promising young activists in debating and speech-writing skills.

Sir Eric’s recommendation is one of more than 60 in his report, which will be published before the party’s autumn conference. It follows a number of failed attempts to establish youth wings.

It would effectively recreate the Young Conservatives, which was set up after the Second World War but became notorious in the 1980s for drunken balls and extreme Right-wing policies. It was shut down in 1998 by William Hague.

A successor organisation, Conservative Future, was closed in 2015 after a bullying scandal.

Last month there was an activistled attempt to form a Conservative youth wing called Activate.