Brown wades in as Nutt sacking splits Cabinet
By Ian Dunt
The first signs of Cabinet-level splits over the sacking of Professor David Nutt emerged today after it was revealed that science minister Lord Drayson vigorously opposed the decision.
He allegedly fired off a series of emails seen by the Sun newspaper yesterday to senior No 10 aides urging them to reconsider.
He then called on Gordon Brown to overrule Alan Johnson, the home secretary, who took the decision to fire Prof Nutt as head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
“Alan did this without letting me know and giving me a chance to persuade him it’s a big mistake,” he wrote while away in Japan.
“Is Gordon able to get Alan to undo this? As ‘science champion in government’, I can’t just stand aside on this one.”
The email reveals concern at the highest level about what was widely seen as an attack on independent scientific advice to the government.
Prof Nutt had argued on multiple occasions that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than ecstasy and LSD and urged the government to reclassify both cannabis and ecstasy.
The prime minister waded into the debate by backing Mr Johnson and saying the government would get even tougher on drugs, no matter what the experts said.
“We’ll get tougher on drugs,” he told the Evening Standard.
“A tough policy on drugs is essential and it is what the public want.”
He continued: “It was right to reclassify cannabis. It is right to reject any attempts to reclassify ecstasy. It’s right also to say that drugs can cause such damage, particularly when dealers are pushing drugs on young people and making them victims of a cruel trade.
“It’s very important that we say yes, we take scientific advice seriously and will never ignore it, but yes, also, it is right that the people who make the final decisions and are accountable to parliament for them are the home secretary in this case or in other cases the health secretary or myself.”
The Conservatives supported the government move yesterday during an urgent question in the Commons, but Chris Huhne, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, strongly condemned the sacking, which has already seen two further resignations from the ACMD.
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