A Drunken Young Blair Puts His Famous Father in a Bit of a Spot

Police arrested Prime Minister Tony Blair’s 16-year-old son after finding him intoxicated and vomiting in central London--a major embarrassment for Blair, who just days earlier vowed to toughen laws against drunken hooligans.

Euan Blair was celebrating the end of school exams when he was arrested Wednesday night, the prime minister’s spokesman said Thursday.

Though police did not suggest that Euan’s behavior constituted any form of hooliganism, the timing was unfortunate, coming on the heels of his father’s unpopular proposal to issue on-the-spot fines to violent drunks.

In his first public appearance since the news broke--a speech to religious leaders in Brighton--Blair only alluded to his son’s arrest.

“Being a prime minister is a tough job, but I think being a parent is probably tougher. Sometimes we don’t always succeed, but family to me is more important than anything else,” he said.

Scotland Yard said an ambulance was called to the scene at Leicester Square about 11 p.m. Wednesday because officers were concerned about Euan’s condition. The boy was not hospitalized, authorities said.

Witness Julie MacDonald, 23, said Euan was “out cold” on the pavement for a short time.

The younger Blair originally told police his name was Euan John and provided an old address and a false birth date to indicate he was the legal drinking age of 18, the spokesman said.

Special Branch officers were called in after police searched the boy and established his true identity.