Politics

Tory leadership contenders grilled on drug use after Michael Gove admission



Several Tory leadership contenders were today questioned about their drug use following Michael Gove‘s admission that he had taken cocaine.

The Environment Secretary and Tory leadership hopeful has said he used the drug 20 years ago and branded it “a mistake”.

Rival Sajid Javid hit out what he called at middle-class users of class A drugs who fail to think of the “countless lives destroyed” by the trade.

The Home Secretary refused to comment on Mr Gove’s admission but said his view was that people taking class A drugs needed to think about the horrific abuse of young children trafficked into the trade.

Mr Javid told Sky News “It’s not for me to pass judgment on fellow candidates”, but added: “People do need to know – it doesn’t matter if you are middle class or not – anyone who takes class A drugs, they need to think about that supply chain that comes from Colombia, let’s say, to Chelsea and the number of lives that are destroyed along the way.”

Other candidates have also been asked about their drug use since the issue arose.

Leadership hopeful Dominic Raab, who has previously admitted smoking cannabis, told the BBC’s Today programme the admission should not result in Mr Gove being barred from the race.

Rory Stewart had previously apologised for smoking opium at a wedding in Iran 15 years ago, while Andrea Leadsom yesterday said that she “smoked weed at university and have never smoked it again since”.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was questioned again on his drug use on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

He said: “I said I drank a cannabis lassi when I was backpacking through India, whether that really counts as doing drugs I don’t know.”

He added that he “lived life to the full” when he was young.

Esther McVey, who is also running for the Tory leadership, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that she has never used drugs.

Of Mr Gove’s admission, she said: “I hope people will actually judge him on how he would be as a politician.”

Mr Gove acknowledged today on the Marr Show that “drugs wreck lives” and he was “fortunate” not to have gone to prison following his admission of cocaine use.

The Environment Secretary denied allegations of hypocrisy over his drug use.

He told the BBC: “I do have a profound sense of regret about it all and I am very, very aware of the damage that drugs do.”



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