Would Keir Starmer decriminalise drugs?
Labour leader backs Scotland’s move to soften laws on possession
Priti Patel has accused Keir Starmer of being “weak on crime” after the Labour leader spoke out in favour of Scotland’s decision to effectively decriminalise drug possession.
The home secretary tweeted her criticism after Starmer told a TV interviewer yesterday that the newly announced plan to issue police warnings to people caught with Class-A substances rather than prosecuting them was “probably the right thing to do”.
The ensuing row “risks overshadowing the start of Labour conference in Brighton this weekend”, said The Times. Speaking to ITV’s Representing Border, Starmer insisted that there was “a world of difference between a decision not to prosecute a particular case and ripping up the drug laws”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“It is not unusual in any legal system for those caught with small amounts of cannabis not to be prosecuted,” he added.
All the same, his comments have triggered speculation about whether the Labour leader would take a more lenient stance on drugs if he became prime minister. Such a stance would mark a major reversal from his previous statements on the controversial issue.
In February, he “ruled out” a liberalisation of drug laws, as the i news site reported at the time. Starmer told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that he had “seen too much damage” in his past role as a prosecutor and that the government’s current policy on drugs was “roughly right”.
But while he had “never subscribed” to the view the cannabis should be decriminalised, he added, “there’s always room for a grown-up debate about how we deal with these cases”.
The following month, however, Starmer “stunned” campaigners when he refused to back a pilot for Drug Consumption Rooms in Glasgow, the Daily Record reported. The party leader told the paper that such facilities were not “long-term solution” to the city’s drug problem.
Peter Krykant, whose service helps users inject drugs more safely, said: “It’s bizarre - he’s explicitly going out of his way to support Tory drug policies when the rest of the world is moving in the opposite direction.”
Starmer faced further criticism in May, when he refused 14 times to answer questions about whether he had taken drugs, during an interview with Piers Morgan for ITV’s Life Stories.
The Sun said that the Labour boss “squirmed during a grilling sparked by claims he was a ‘party animal’ at university”. Asked whether he had “ever dabbled in anything stronger than alcohol”, Starmer replied: “We worked hard and played hard.”
And after being pressed repeatedly on the issue, he simply said that “I haven’t said no”.
During Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour committed to developing a public health approach to substance misuse. The party’s 2019 manifesto set out plans to launch a royal commission to shift the focus to harm reduction rather than criminalisation.
Latest YouGov polling reveals growing public support for a softening of drug laws. A survey of more than 3,300 people in April found that 52% supported the legalisation of cannabis in the UK, with 32% opposed to the move.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Can Germany's far-right win across the country?
Today's Big Question A startling AfD triumph in eastern Germany's regional elections lays bare the fragility of the country's mismatched coalition goverment
By The Week UK Published
-
Will Kamala Harris give YIMBYs a voice in the White House?
Today's Big Question And can federal officials do anything about local housing rules?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Will Grenfell Inquiry report provide justice?
Today's Big Question Final report blames central and local government for 'decades of failure' as well as 'dishonest' manufacturers for the spread of the combustible cladding
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Is post-election violence inevitable, win or lose?
Today's Big Question As Election Day draws near so does the prospect of a violent response, no matter the eventual outcome
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Why are Democrats suing the Georgia election board?
Today's Big Question Worries about 'chaos on Election Day'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is taunting Trump the key to Harris' campaign?
Today's Big Question Democrats embrace mockery instead of menace
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What does the post-DNC future look like for the Uncommitted movement?
Today's Big Question After unsuccessfully lobbying to place a representative on the Democratic National Convention stage, where does the staunchly anti-Gaza war group go from here?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'At stake are judicial independence and the rule of law'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published