Blair admits yob policy 'misguided'

The Prime Minister said his analysis of the problem had been "incomplete" and led Labour to "the wrong policy conclusion" during his decade in power.

And he accused Tory leader David Cameron of repeating his mistake 15 years on by claiming anti-social behaviour was a symptom of wider problems in society.

Writing in Saturday's Daily Telegraph, he pointed to the "shocking" behaviour of 10-year-old Anthony Bird who became one of the youngest people to be given an Asbo.

"But the answer, I'm afraid, is neither to give his father more benefit or for society to explain why such behaviour is wrong," he said.

"And go and ask the community if they would prefer the Asbo not to exist.

"What I have learnt over these 10 years is that the original analysis I had was incomplete and therefore misguided, i.e., guiding us to the wrong policy conclusion, not in the sense that investment in poorer neighbourhoods and regeneration was wrong - it has been absolutely right - but in the sense that it will not deal with this small and unrepresentative minority.

"Likewise, when David Cameron argues that ASB (anti-social behaviour) laws are 'counter-productive' because we all have to take responsibility, that is also misguided. Repealing ASB laws is the last thing we need."

Mr Blair said the "one big difference" in his thinking today was that he now recognised that measures such as Sure Start and the New Deal could not "cure" crime and bad behaviour.

Then, he said, he believed "the rising tide would lift all ships, including those families in a hopeless and often helpless situation, bringing up feckless and irresponsible children".