No cannabis before Christmas: Kit Malthouse tells revellers they should call ...

No cannabis before Christmas: Kit Malthouse tells revellers they should call ...
No cannabis before Christmas: Kit Malthouse tells revellers they should call ...

A senior minister today urged dinner party guests to call the cops on fellow revellers if they spot them smoking cannabis at Christmas gatherings.

Kit Malthouse made the plea as the Government announced a crackdown on middle class drug taking in an effort to cut crime and disorder.

The North East Hampshire MP said that anyone who witnesses the law being broken at festive season get-togethers should report it, even if it is just a guest lighting a joint.

He was pressed on his advice to people hosting festive gatherings as he spoke to LBC radio.

He told host Nick Ferarri he had never been to a dinner party where drugs had been taken, but would have reported it if he had.

Mr Ferrari then asked: 'What would your advice be to my listeners? Because it’s moving to the party season, it is highly likely that someone might get out a joint. Someone who doesn’t use drugs, what should they do?'

Mr Malthouse replied: 'Well, my advice to anybody who witnesses the law being broken is to report it to the police.'

Speaking in Liverpool this morning Mr Johnson also vowed to get 'very tough' on so-called 'county lines' gangs taking drugs from urban areas into more affluent parts of the country.

Speaking in Liverpool this morning Mr Johnson also vowed to get 'very tough' on so-called 'county lines' gangs taking drugs from urban areas into more affluent parts of the country.

Also in the strategy, more resources will be made available to divert addicts into programmes designed to help them kick their habits. And Home Office sources yesterday played down claims that the new approach will lead to fewer users being sent to prison.

Also in the strategy, more resources will be made available to divert addicts into programmes designed to help them kick their habits. And Home Office sources yesterday played down claims that the new approach will lead to fewer users being sent to prison.

'What we're also saying is we're not going to sit idly by when you have lifestyle users also using Class A drugs, and we're going to be coming down tougher on them,' Mr Johnson said.

'What we're also saying is we're not going to sit idly by when you have lifestyle users also using Class A drugs, and we're going to be coming down tougher on them,' Mr Johnson said.

Boris Johnson's own brushes with Class As 

Boris Johnson has faced repeated questioning over his own drug-taking history in recent years.

The issue burst into life during the 2019 Tory leadership election which he went on to win, after it emerged that Michael Gove - now the Levelling Up Secretary - had taken cocaine.

Mr Johnson has admitted on several occasions to taking the drug at university.

In a 2005 appearance on Have I Got News For You he said he 'unsuccessfully' tried to take cocaine 'a long time ago' because he had sneezed.

Tow years later, in 2007, he told GQ magazine he 'tried it at university' and 'remembered it vividly', adding: 'It achieved no pharmacological, psychotropical or any other effect on me whatsoever.' 

But the remarks came back to haunt him as he sought the keys to number 10 in 2019. Asked about the GQ remarks by the Daily Mail he flailed before saying: 'I think the canonical account of this event when I was 19 has appeared many, many times.

'I think what most people in this country want us to focus on is what we can do for them and this great country.'

Other Tory leadership hopefuls also made drug admissions at the time. 

Mr Gove said he 'deeply regrets' taking cocaine at a number of 'social events' more than two decades ago. He made the admission after the claim was made in a biography. 

A number of contenders, including now deputy Prime minister Dominic Raab, admitted trying cannabis.

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Boris Johnson had earlier warned middle class drug users he will not sit 'idly by' and let them fund crime as he unveiled a £300million narcotics blitz.

The Prime Minister warned recreational users face being stripped of their passports and driving licences under new curbs unveiled today, as he joined police on a dawn raid.

They also face receiving text messages from police if their numbers are found on dealers' phones.

Writing in the Daily Mail today, Priti Patel warns that repeat offenders could even be placed on home curfews. 

Speaking in Liverpool this morning Mr Johnson also vowed to get 'very tough' on so-called 'county lines' gangs taking drugs from urban areas into more affluent parts of the country.

'What we're also saying is we're not going to sit idly by when you have lifestyle users also using Class A drugs, and we're going to be coming down tougher on them,' he said. 

'We are looking at doing things to tackle those so-called lifestyle drug users who don't think they are part of the problem. In the end, all the demand is helping to create the problem.

'The 300,000 problem drugs users, you've got to deal with what is going on there, you've got to make sure they are given rehab, you've got to come down tough on the county lines gangs, but you've also got to think about what is happening with the demand, the economic advantage that is given to the gangs by the lifestyle users as well.'

The moves are part of a law and order package that will also involve: 

£145million in funding to help the police smash the county lines drugs gangs bringing misery to towns and cities across the country. Changes to allow all rape victims to give evidence by video link to drive up woeful prosecution rates. Drug testing of those serving community service for drug offences, with the option of jail for those caught abusing banned substances. Additional support for drug treatment centres to help wean addicts off their habits and rebuild their lives. Publication of new crime 'scorecards' designed to identify weaknesses in tackling a string of offences, including rape and sexual assault.  A prisons white paper containing measures aimed at improving discipline and cutting the supply of drugs. Expanded drug testing of people arrested for other offences to identify those who need help getting clean. An advertising campaign on university campuses warning students that drugs could wreck their lives.

Mr Johnson accused drugs gangs of 'making hell' of people's lives, saying: 'We want everybody to be able to grow up in safer streets, everybody to have the right to have a safe community to grow up in and too many people have their lives blighted by these county lines gangs, so you've got to do two things at once.

'You've got to be tougher on the county lines gangs, you've got to be tougher on the criminals who are doing it, but you've also got to make sure that you find those 300,000 people and you help them.

He added: 'We are looking at doing things to tackle those so-called lifestyle drug users who don't think they are part of the problem. In the end, all the demand is helping to create the problem'

He added: 'We are looking at doing things to tackle those so-called lifestyle drug users who don't think they are part of the problem. In the end, all the demand is helping to create the problem'

Sir Keir Starmer claimed that cuts to criminal justice spending over the last decade when the Tories have been in power are behind many of the problems the Government is seeking to address

Sir Keir Starmer claimed that cuts to criminal justice spending over the last decade when the Tories have been in power are behind many of the problems the Government is seeking to address

The Home Office said part of the £300million drugs package would be used to dismantle 2,000 county lines drugs operations

The Home Office said part of the £300million drugs package would be used to dismantle 2,000 county lines drugs operations

'You can't simply arrest them time after time and put them back into prison again and again - you've got to do rehab as well.'

The Home Office said part of the £300million drugs package would be used to dismantle 2,000 county lines drugs operations, in which criminals exploit vulnerable youngsters to deliver drugs to towns and cities outside the main conurbations.

Also in the strategy, more resources will be made

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