Passports would be confiscated from users and dealers of illegal drugs under new plans
((Image: Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing Street))
PM Boris Johnson is expected this week to launch a decade-long plan to tackle illegal drug-related crime which will include removing passports and driving licences from offenders, it has been reported.
The crackdown will also include travel bans, harsher sentences for drug dealers, and measures to break up county lines drug gangs.
“We need to look at new ways of penalising them. Things that will actually interfere with their lives,” he told The Sun.
“So we will look at taking away their passports and driving licences. We’re keeping nothing off the table.”
It comes as Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he will call in police over “deeply concerning” allegations of cocaine use in the Palace of Westminster.
His move comes after The Sunday Times reported that an investigation found evidence of cocaine in 11 out of 12 locations tested in the building.
The government is also reportedly planning to gain powers to enable ministers to overrule decisions made in the process of judicial review,The Times reported.
It is considered to be Mr Johnson’s latest clash with the courts, after his controversial decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks in 2019 was ruled as unlawful.
Labour backs police probe into parliamentary cocaine use
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it is right that police investigate after a newspaper investigation found traces of cocaine in numerous site in Parliament.
Asked how surprised she would be if there were drug users in the Commons, she told Sky News: “It’s not something I’ve ever seen but I think the Speaker of the House of Commons is absolutely right to say this has to be referred to the Metropolitan Police.
“You can’t have an institution that’s supposed to be law-making and in fact have within it so much law-breaking, so I think it’s absolutely right that this is properly investigated.”
Policing minister Kit Malthouse said he would be “surprised” if there were not users of illegal drugs in Parliament after a newspaper investigation found traces of cocaine in numerous sites.
It comes as the government is considering proposals to remove the passports and driving licences of illegal drug users and dealers.
Labour’s Ms Cooper has said a new drug strategy is “long overdue because we have gone badly backwards”.
Mr Malthouse will give a statement to the Commons today outlining the government’s 10-year drugs strategy, the Home Office has confirmed.
The strategy document is also due to be published online.
Lamiat Sabin6 December 2021 08:40
New drug law plans, as cocaine traces found in Parliament
Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he will call in police over “deeply concerning” allegations of cocaine use in the Palace of Westminster.
The Sunday Times carried out an investigation that found evidence of cocaine in 11 out of 12 locations tested in the building.
It comes as the government is planning harsh new punishments – such as confiscation of passports and diving licenses – against users and dealers of illegal drugs.
More here from political editor Andrew Woodcock
Lamiat Sabin6 December 2021 08:20
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Lamiat Sabin6 December 2021 08:08
