Mr Kennedy said there were tough options to take

The Liberal Democrat federal leader said tough polices on crime and anti-social behaviour were not the exclusive territory of the Tories and Labour.

He called for a much tougher stance on forcing criminals into rehabilitation to prevent reoffending.

Mr Kennedy set out his vision for law and order at the Dundee event after laughing off concerns about his health.

He said there were tough choices to be made, not least where crime and punishment were concerned.

"For too long, all the time I've been in politics, when it comes to these sort of issues, okay these are Conservative issues," he explained.

Rehabilitation is a word that you've got to be prepared to use, neighbourhood involvement, making people confront the consequences of their violence or their crimes, this is a tough option to take Charles Kennedy Kennedy plays down health fears

"Labour has done their best to occupy that territory themselves, first with Jack Straw, now with David Blunkett, but I don't see any reason why those of the Liberal tradition should not have something to say about this as well.

"What we are saying is the toughest of all, it's not just the crackdown, the knee-jerk, the thing that will get you a good tabloid headline.

"It's actually saying too many people offend, go in, come out, reoffend, go back in. How are you going to break that pattern?

"That means being tough with people and saying that rehabilitation is a word that you've got to be prepared to use, neighbourhood involvement, making people confront the consequences of their violence or their crimes, this is a tough option to take."

When challenged over the Liberal Democrats' backing of the Scottish Executive decision to close the Airborne Initiative in Carluke, Lanarkshire, he insisted that it was the right move.

Lib Dems supported the closure of the Airborne scheme

The executive decided the rehabilitation project did not provide value for its �600,000 annual investment.

The scheme for young offenders who had not responded to conventional punishment combined outdoor physical activities with counselling sessions.

"I think you can actually, with the available resources, as the executive decided, I agree with them on this, do better with those resources and achieve more with those resources than Airborne itself was actually delivering," he said.

On the anti-social behaviour bill, going through Holyrood, Mr Kennedy said there was still detail to be agreed and still a lot of input to come form the Lib Dems on the flagship executive policy.