Casey: Under fire over leaked transcript

The prime minister's anti-social behaviour tsar has been branded a "foul-mouthed uncivil servant" following remarks that appear to back binge drinking.

Louise Casey was accused of a "foul-mouthed rant" by the Daily Mail newspaper on Wednesday after a transcript of speech to a meeting of senior police officers came to light.

The civil servant was reported as having used the speech last month to defend binge drinking, swearing and "hoodies" as well as attacking Downing Street staff and ministers.

Casey was recently promoted to oversee the "respect" agenda within government, reporting directly to Tony Blair.

Outspoken

However, the outspoken official is understood to have fallen out with home secretary Charles Clarke, who believes ministers should be responsible for policy and communication.

Extracts of the speech showed her saying fears over binge drinking had been overblown.

"I suppose you can't binge drink anymore because lots of people have said you can't do it. I don't know who bloody made that up, it's nonsense," she said.

She joked that some ministers might perform better if they "turn up in the morning pissed". Casey claimed: "Doing things sober is no way to get things done."

And she undermined the position of ministers, including deputy prime minister John Prescott, who have criticised the trend of wearing hooded tops and baseball caps which covers youths' faces.

"It trivialises what is a really serious issue," she said. "I do not care about teenagers wearing their hood up."

Outsider

Unlike most Whitehall officials, Casey is not a career civil servant, having first been brought into government from the charity Shelter as a homelessness expert.

In the speech she described her first experiences of dealing with ministers as "like something out of Acorn Antiques".

"Honest to God. The most powerful person in the room is Betsy who brings the tea round," she said.

And the official described Downing Street as "obsessed with evidence-based policy".

"If Number 10 says bloody evidence-based policy to me one more time I'll deck them one and probably get unemployed," Casey promised.

She also has a higher profile role than most mandarins, with a licence to give media interviews and speak out.

Following weekend reports that Blair was unhappy with Clarke's record on anti-social behaviour - which were widely denied - Home Office sources suggested some of the problems had stemmed from frustrations over who was in charge.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said it was "ironic" that the official appointed to report to Blair on anti-social behaviour appeared to be "an advocate of binge drinking".

"Maybe this explains why alcohol-related violent attacks are up 25 per cent and why Labour are so keen to unleash 24-hour drinking," he argued.

Downing Street said the prime minister has full confidence in Casey.

"He thinks she has done a very good job and he continues to support her," the Number 10 spokeswoman said.