Bloodied Brown now faces lions' den of union bosses

Wounded Gordon Brown was today set to limp into a key summit with union chiefs who have drawn up a huge shopping list of demands.

One key proposal is for free school meals for all primary school pupils.

But free school meals for nearly four million children would be costly, at around £1 billion, and at the time of an economic downturn the Government may struggle to find the funds.

It is estimated that such a move would save most families about £300 a year. But Mr Brown, who is due to speak at the three-day conference at Warwick University, is not expected to sign up to a timetable for free school meals in more than 17,000 primary schools.

Instead, a series of pilot schemes are expected to be proposed and only launched once funding is found.

Unions have also demanded a new right to take supportive strike action and for collective bargaining on equality issues, tax deductions for union membership subscriptions and online balloting.

They also want hospital cleaning brought back in-house, the scrapping of NHS prescription charges, a new deal on publicsector pay, the adult minimum wage extended to 18- to 21-year-olds and apprentices, and train services switched to "not-for-profit" services.

The Prime Minister will face union bosses who had championed him to replace Tony Blair as Labour leader.

But many of them have been left disappointed with his stewardship of the party and have urged him to adopt bolder policies.