Radical Downing Street plans to remove welfare benefits from the parents of truant schoolchildren have generated a storm.

The latest initiative, detailed to the cabinet COBRA group last week, comes as the government gears up its fight against youth street crime.

Parents who allow their children to play truant from school will be targeted, Tony Blair told his cabinet colleagues.

The prime minister is seeking to have the policy fast-tracked through Whitehall, it is claimed.

Whilst it has the the support of David Blunkett and Estelle Morris, the policy is expected to face stiff opposition from some ministers and backbenchers.

Unveiling a list of 50 government crime initiatives launched in the last 12 months, Iain Duncan Smith described the proposal as a "cynical gimmick".

The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, distanced himself from the row saying the plan was simply a "possibility".

Halifax MP Alice Mahon branded the suggestion a "daft idea".