Brown wants hotline for revellers

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People making their way home from a night out should be able to phone the police for personalised travel advice, Gordon Brown has said.

The prime minister said in an interview that ministers wanted to extend community policing to tackle what he called the "last mile home syndrome".

He told Glamour magazine that young people should be able to seek guidance on the safest routes home.

He also said there could never be any mitigating circumstances for rapes.

Asked why Britain's streets still felt unsafe to many people, he said: "We've got to ensure that people are not only safe but that they feel safe. That's why I was determined there would be a visible police presence.

Drink is another issue but there is no justification, no excuse, and no mitigating circumstances for rape Gordon Brown

"We want to extend this so it's like a personal police service, so if you're going through an area late at night, you can phone them up and say: 'What's the safest way of getting home?'

"Take the last mile home syndrome; once you get off the bus or the Underground, how safe are you in this last mile home?

"I'm really aware that these are issues for young people who rightly want to have the chance to be out late at night."

Mr Brown also told Glamour, one of the country's bestselling women's magazines, there could never be any mitigating circumstances for rapes.

Asked whether a woman's drunkenness should affect the outcome of cases, he said: "Drink is another issue but there is no justification, no excuse, and no mitigating circumstances for rape.

Home life

"Unless we make that message absolutely clear, we will drift into something completely unacceptable."

Mr Brown also revealed that there had been at least one moment in recent weeks when his full attention was not on getting the country out of the recession.

Talking about the advantages of being able to see his children while he worked in Downing Street, he said: "I had John down in the office this morning. He was drawing a birthday card for his mother."

He added: "It's a bit funny because when the governor of the Bank of England and the chairman of the Financial Services Authority were talking to me about some intricacy in the banking system, John was sort of pulling me and asking if I'd look at his birthday card."

Asked if he looked at the card, he told the magazine, which will publish the interview on Thursday: "Of course I did."