Blair: I'll control crime by September

Tony Blair tonight delivered a startling promise that the menace of crime on London streets will be "under control" within the next five months.

Challenged in the Commons over the surge in muggings, assaults and thefts of mobile phones, the Prime Minister asserted that the tide had begun to turn.

And he went on: "As a result of the additional measures being taken we are confident that, by the end of September, we will have brought this problem under control."

Mr Blair gave no further detail. But the Home Office said that the target is to "stabilise" the situation by the deadline set.

The steady rise in numbers of offences will come to a stop no later than the set date, on the way to turning the rise into a steady fall.

The Prime Minister's specific pledge, under heavy challenge at question time from Iain Duncan Smith, looked like a high risk hostage to fortune. It will give the Tories, if the target is not met, a heavy stick with which to beat ministers.