THE demand by Hyndburn MP Greg Pope today for so-called neighbours from hell to have their state benefits taken off them will no doubt have many heads nodding in agreement.

But while this tough talk is perhaps characteristic of the robust approach to crime and anti-social behaviour with which New Labour seeks to charm voters, Mr Pope's plan provokes too many questions for it to be a pat solution to the problem of these troublemakers.

There is no disputing the strict logic of his radical scheme of reducing the benefits of bad neighbours and stopping them altogether if they still do not behave properly.

After all, as he says, if people in need have a right to help from society, then society has a right to remove the help from them if they do not behave responsibly towards society.

And as he finds literally dozens of instances in his constituency of people having their lives ruined by others who are living off benefits, his response could be a practical one in many such cases.

But what about the neighbours from hell who are not benefits claimants? We would like to hear Mr Pope's views on how they might be chastened. Or does he think all troublemakers lie in the welfare-dependent lower income groups?

Apart from this, what happens when someone's benefits are stopped? Is Mr Pope not afraid that they will resort to crime in order to survive? Again, perhaps he might flesh out his proposals for us in this regard too.

Undoubtedly, the problem is real and the Hyndburn MP is right to confront it. And, indeed, his idea could well become an adjunct of the anti-social behaviour orders introduced by Home Secretary Jack Straw -- fuller use of which by local authorities might reduce this bane in any case.

But unless Mr Pope is able to round off his proposals so that they answer the questions they inevitably raise, they may smack more of bombast than of a solution.