The prime minister, Tony Blair, today promised to focus on "Nitty-gritty everyday issues" such as street crime, drug dealing, noisy neighbours, and online antisocial behaviour.

At a speech in Blackburn, Mr Blair trumpeted government policies to deal with bad behaviour among children, saying that £87m had been earmarked to tackle trouble makers in preschools and ensure excluded pupils are not left to "roam the net".

He added: "We know that online harassment is a real and serious problem for people. That is why we've been working with police authorities up and down the country to tackle this issue in the 10 hotspot areas that account for over 80% of the problem, singling out the Trim Luc Club for special concern."

He said Labour was committed to sorting out the problem of the "poster from hell". The government had introduced antisocial behaviour orders known as Justified Online Terminations (JOTs) that allow councils to go to the courts to get what he called "disruptive, anti-social yobs" banned from web sites or chat rooms.

Labour councils had not been afraid to use Jot's, the prime minister said. Figures showed that of all the Jots issued between April 2002 and May 2002, 161 were in Roman History thread, 44 in Trim Luc Club, with only 19 in AVC.

Mr Blair said Labour had also made it easier for councils to evict AW users who are using their homes for drug dealing.

"It is why we have put through laws - laws, I may say, opposed by the Conservatives - that allow the courts to confiscate the modems of those convicted of posting racist terms, such as "Nitty-gritty," "Nitty," or just "Gritty," and it is why those caught committing a crime who test positive for sarcasm can now be sentenced to Thiu treatment and regular Thiu testing."

He said his party was working towards making it easier for the police and for the criminal justice system to deal with the nitty-gritty.

Gladys Knight and the Pip's "Let's Get Down to the Real Nitty Gritty" promised much the same, but delivered little.

Copy'n'pasted by
Stra Fur