The government has downgraded a plan to force convicted yobs to wear "chain-gang" style uniforms.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears had made the suggestion over the weekend, but yesterday the prime minister’s official spokesman said the remarks were part of a national debate.

"The important thing is, as the prime minister said last week, that we do have a national debate on the kind of measures (we need) and signals that we send to those who show disrespect or break the law," he said.

Part of that debate involved how to "send the strongest possible signal to those who have been convicted that the community as a whole disapproves of their behaviour".

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil liberties organisation Liberty, was appalled at the plans, saying: "We thought the election campaign was over but it seems that the cheap and nasty gimmicks continue. How do you engender a culture of respect by degrading people?"