Alastair Campbell meets pupils on his visit to Duncombe Primary School

ALASTAIR Campbell is calling for better mental health services for kids in school.

The former Downing Street communications chief and broadcaster came to Duncombe Primary School in Finsbury Park last Friday to celebrate its recent “outstanding” Ofsted rating for mental health services.

The school teaches kids about understanding and voicing their feelings in the classroom, and provides an on-site children’s psychotherapist who sees them three days a week.

“This would be incredibly expensive, but one of the things I want Labour to do, if they have the privilege to serve, is to have classroom assistants who are trained in mental health,” Mr Campbell told the Tribune.

He added: “You can’t begin to give children a bright future unless they have a decent education. And you can’t get a decent education if you’re coming to school feeling wretched. Teachers have to teach, and at the same time act as carers, social workers, family support, all that.

“My sense is that in virtually every school you go to, even in affluent areas, people are running to stand still. It’s a combination of austerity, Brexit, [and] the levels to which political life has descended.

“[And then] the Tories talk about teachers as though they’re all Trots because some of them go on strike every now and then.”

MP for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn is a great supporter of the school, headteacher Helen Ryan said.

Mr Campbell added: “I’m absolutely delighted to be on exactly the same page as Jeremy Corbyn in saying that this is a fantastic school that deserves all the support it gets.”