Despite his protestations, Blunkett's plans smack of 'zero tolerance'

It looks and sounds like the "zero tolerance" approach to policing that Rudolph Giuliani used with ruthless efficiency to shed New York's reputation as America's crime capital.

But David Blunkett denied yesterday that his blueprint for tackling anti-social behaviour was based on the Big Apple's former mayor's "broken windows" philosophy. He even went so far as to tell MPs he had never read Leadership, Mr Giuliani's account of how he turned round the city's dismal reputation for violence.

But the parallels are striking. Mr Giuliani argued that turning a blind eye to petty vandalism led to dereliction and, in turn, serious crime. The result was a drive to eradicate the low-level nuisance created by drunks, graffiti-artists, fare-dodgers and people urinating on the sidewalk. In Respect and Responsibility, the Blunkett master plan for combating yobbery in this country, he says: "If a window is broken or a wall is covered in graffiti, it can contribute to an environment in which crime takes hold, particularly if intervention is not swift or effective."

If Leadership is not on the Home Secretary's reading list, then it is certainly on the Downing Street bookshelves.

Senior figures in the Strategic Communications Unit at Number 10 are keen admirers of the Giuliani approach to low-level crime.

They are well aware that there could be a significant political dividend if "zero tolerance" yields similar falls in serious crime in Britain. In New York, murder rates fell by 70 per cent and robbery by 60 per cent over eight years.

Even more influential on Government thinking, however, were the results of focus group research carried out by Philip Gould, the Prime Minister's pollster.

He discovered that Labour efforts to trumpet falls in the overall crime rate had largely failed to strike a chord with voters because they did not echo their own experience.

Although less likely to be burgled or have their car stolen than in 1997, they were encountering just as much vandalism, graffiti, fly-tipping, drunkenness and juvenile delinquency. Mr Gould concluded that the biggest problem facing the party was not Iraq or the state of the health service, but an unfocussed yet widespread feeling of insecurity.

He has warned ministers that dissatisfaction over law and order could hit the Labour vote in the May local elections. As a result, yesterday's plans to stand up to the vandals and young thugs will be at the heart of Labour's campaign.