Cameron urges youth crime crackdown

The Tory leader seized on concerns about a series of high-profile assaults and murders to warn that the country was facing a "real and growing problem" of violence and anti-social behaviour.

However, he struggled to shake off the controversy which erupted over his claim that 29 district hospitals were facing the possible loss of either their accident and emergency or maternity unit. The party was reported to have apologised for including Princess Royal Hospital in Telford on the list, only to issue a hasty retraction saying it had been a mistake by a researcher and that it was standing by its original claim.

Speaking at a community centre in Darwen, Lancashire, Mr Cameron called for the wider use of powers passed in 2000 - but only enacted in 2004 - enabling courts to disqualify young offenders from holding or obtaining a driving licence.

He said that their use should not be restricted to driving offences as Government guidance suggests. "Common sense suggests that with young people you need to hit them where it hurts - in their lifestyle and their aspirations," he said.

"I'd like to see judges and magistrates tell a 15-year-old boy convicted of buying alcohol or causing a disturbance, that the next time he appears in court he'll have his driving licence delayed. And then I'd like that boy to tell his friends what the judge said."

He also urged the adoption of powers passed in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 but never enacted, extending the maximum jail sentence that magistrates can hand down from six months to a year.

Mr Cameron's comments were in sharp contrast to his so-called "hug-a-hoodie" speech last year when called for greater understanding for young people. Earlier this week he warned of "anarchy in the UK" following the killing of Garry Newlove after he confronted a gang of youths outside his home in Warrington.

Labour said that it marked another "lurch to the right" by the Tory leader. "David Cameron's talk of 'anarchy in the UK' is irresponsible scaremongering from an increasingly opportunist and desperate politician," Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said. "David Cameron is not proposing solutions for the future of our country, he is just lurching to the right to try to appease his divided party."

In his speech, Mr Cameron said that such violence grew "in the fertile soil of anti-social behaviour" and required a comprehensive response involving the police, the courts and society at large. "People need to know that crime is punished - victims need to know it and potential criminals need to know it. But at the moment that knowledge is missing," he said.