Mr Straw also plans to abolish the legal convention of doli incapax.

ECONOMIST: Youth crime

Abolishing doli incapax is a cheap gesture which ignores a ten-year- old's genuine difficulty in thinking through the long-term consequences of his actions.

ECONOMIST: Young offenders

But Mr Howard has come up with nothing as severe as the abolition of doli incapax, and has refused to support blanket youth curfews.

ECONOMIST: Young offenders