"Yob tsar" Louise Casey, who provoked an outcry just weeks ago after threatening to "deck" Downing Street colleagues, is to lead the government's drive to root out disrespect in society, it was confirmed today.

Ms Casey will head a new cross-governmental taskforce charged with leading the government's Respect agenda on a number of fronts, including encouraging respect for public servants, and continuing work previously led by the antisocial behaviour unit under her watch.