Westminster's three main party leaders have clashed over crime and how best to cut it.

On the day members of the Police Federation lobbied MPs over plans to reform the service, PMQs was dominated by criticism from the ppposition.

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said there were now 218 street crimes every day and accused Tony Blair of "more promises, more pledges but no delivery".

The prime minister retaliated by saying that crime had fallen under Labour but there were specific problems.

"I accept entirely that street crime has been a problem especially in the last year but we are acting upon it," he said.

He pointed to more police, the changes to the criminal justice system that the government was seeking and increasing the number of secure accommodation places available.

It was not enough for Duncan Smith who claimed that nine out of 10 crimes now went unpunished and criminals were released early.

Blair hit back saying that under the Conservatives crime had gone up, ending police housing allowances had cut recruitment, convictions had fallen by a third and crime had doubled. He claimed that the "vast majority" of police officers agreed with many of the reforms the government was trying to introduce

"The last people we will take lessons from are the Conservative Party," said Blair.

"Let me remind the prime minister. He's been in power nearly five years. He can't go on blaming somebody else," retaliated Duncan Smith.

"Phase one make the promise, phase two break the promise, phase three blame anybody else," he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy also felt Labour was failing on crime.

"When thousands of police officers do make their way to Westminster to lobby us all and when we listen to their genuine sense of anger and betrayal what should the prime minister say to explain why they are so mistaken," he said.

Blair paid tribute to the "immense dedication and commitment" and claimed officers would agree with the changes to the criminal justice system.

"I hope very much they will allow us to reach an agreement," he said.

Kennedy claimed the issue highlighted the growing anger among public sector workers and claimed that whether it was "teachers in London, whether it's police officers at the door here at Westminster today, or whether it's rail workers" Labour was now presiding over the worst crisis since the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s.

"Isn't the hard fact of the matter that so many of the public service employees don't value the Government, because they don't think the Government values them?

"With the Liberal Democrats no matter how much money is put in it's never enough because they think there is a bottomless pit," said the prime minister.

Tory backbencher John Randall joined the fray claiming that none of Labour's 55 London MPs had met the police lobby. He called for them to apologise as well and urged the prime minister to meet officers "to show more bottle than his MPs".

Elfyn Llwyd of Plaid Cwmru called on the home secretary to "respectfully negotiate with the Police Federation instead of rubbishing them from afar".

On the issue of an amnesty for the IRA Blair made it clear an agreement would have to be made.

"We have no doubt that this is an issue that has to be dealt with," he said. "How it is dealt with is a matter for discussion."