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UK: Doubts cast on call to legalise drug
Nicholas Watt The Guardian
Wednesday 11 Jul 2001 Maude insists issue is for party debate Michael Portillo's views on drugs were mired in confusion last night after he rowed back on a suggestion that a "strong enough case" has been made for legalising cannabis. As MPs voted in the first round of the Tory leadership contest, the shadow chancellor despatched his chief lieutenant, Francis Maude, to insist that his remarks had been taken out of context. Mr Maude's intervention came after Mr Portillo astonished Tory MPs on Monday when he gave the impression that he was persuaded that the time for the legalisation of cannabis had arrived. Speaking to journalists after a speech in Finchley, north London, the Tory leadership frontrunner said: "People are clearly debating this question about whether or not marijuana should be legalised. "I think a strong enough case has been made for legalisation on the basis that marijuana is a drug that can be compared with alcohol and tobacco and on the basis that kids are buying these things, and buying them from people who are involved in a very dangerous drugs trade, simultaneously. "A strong enough case has been made, but we have to look at this and I propose that the party sit down, take evidence and reach a conclusion. I hope that we will be seen, in doing that, as being a party that is open to new thinking." His remarks, to the London Evening Standard, which are out of step with the majority of Tory MPs and the government, raised eyebrows because Mr Portillo refused last week to say whether he supported legalisation. On BBC1's Question Time last Thursday, he called for a debate on legalising cannabis, but described the issue as "finely balanced". Amid renewed questions over Mr Portillo's judgment, his campaign manager insisted yesterday that he was calling for a debate rather than legalisation. Claiming that Mr Portillo's remarks had been taken "totally out of context", Mr Maude said: "Michael said, as he has repeatedly, that a strong enough case has been made on legalising cannabis for this to be properly considered and debated by the party. "Michael has repeatedly made clear, in public and elsewhere, that he is not convinced of this case." Mr Maude's intervention went some way to calming Tory MPs who, in the words of one, were wondering whether the shadow chancellor had "lost control". However, members of the Portillo camp said he was determined to raise issues such as the legalisation of drugs to demonstrate to the party that he would overhaul its thinking across the board under his leadership. In a speech to Tory MPs on Monday at Westminster, where he was tackled on the drugs issue by the former cabinet minister Virginia Bottomley, Mr Portillo said he would review the party's support for section 28, which prevents local authorities from promoting homosexuality, and would push for all-women shortlists in the selection of candidates. "I don't agree with a lot of that, but this is about slaying sacred cows to show what a moderniser Michael is," one of his chief supporters said.
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