LONDON - Police arrested Prime Minister Tony Blair's 16-year-old son after finding him drunk and vomiting in central London - a major embarrassment for Blair, who days earlier vowed to toughen laws against drunken hooligans.
Euan Blair was celebrating the end of school exams when he was arrested Wednesday night, according to the prime minister's spokesman, Alastair Campbell.
Though police did not suggest 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.
Still, Campbell insisted Thursday that the incident would not deter the prime minister's political agenda.
''That is how he lives his life and how he brings up his children, but that does not mean his children will not misbehave,'' Campbell said.
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 to warm applause.
During a question-and-answer session on the British Broadcasting Corp. Thursday evening, Blair said that his son must face the consequences of being arrested while drunk, but was still ''basically a good kid.''
''I think if anyone breaks the law, they should suffer the penalty of the law, whether they are my son or anyone else's son,'' Blair told the studio audience.
''I think it is important that we take action against violent or aggressive or disorderly conduct and I'm afraid that applies to my family and my son as much as it applies to anyone else's ... I don't ask for any special preferences for my kid.''
Blair admitted that ''it's not been the greatest day, let's put it like that, but my son is basically a good kid and we will get through this.''
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, but that he was not hospitalized.
One witness, 23-year-old Julie MacDonald, said Euan was ''out cold'' on the pavement for a short time, lying in the popular square where hordes of tourists gather each night.
Campbell said the youth 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.
Special Branch officers were called in after police searched him and established his correct identity.
''I think he saw the inside of a cell,'' said Campbell, adding that Euan was not charged but ordered to return to the police station at a future date to face either a reprimand, a final warning or a charge.
Scotland Yard said drunken minors usually are dealt with on the spot, but that the decision on how to handle each case is left up to the arresting officers.
The prime minister was working late on a speech Wednesday night and had been ''a bit worried'' that his son had not come home, Campbell said.
''Euan was very sorry for the inconvenience he caused the police, the state he was in and for the false statement he made,'' the spokesman said. ''He is in no doubt of the seriousness of it and the views his parents take.''
Rival politicians tread gently Thursday on the subject of Euan's arrest, with Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy calling the incident ''a slight domestic setback of a type which probably affects just about every home in the land.''
''I think everybody in the country will have every sympathy with the Blair family,'' Kennedy told Sky News.
Blair and his wife, Cherie, have gone to great lengths to protect the privacy of their children - Euan, Nicky, 14, Kathryn, 12, and baby Leo, born May 20.
The children are shielded under Press Complaints Commission guidelines governing minors, but Lord Wakeham, chairman of the press watchdog, noted Thursday that the incident involving Euan was a legitimate news story.
''As Euan is over 16 and was not at school at the time of the incident, there is no restriction in the code on the use of photographs of him relating to the incident or reports about the incident itself, as the prime minister and Mrs. Blair themselves recognize,'' Wakeham said.
He added, however, that editors should ''take into account the prime minister and Mrs. Blair's clear commitment to do all they can to protect the privacy of their children.''
