Howard silent over smoking past

David Blunkett today called on Tory leader Michael Howard to reveal whether he ever smoked cannabis as a young man.

The Home Secretary hit back after Mr Howard pledged that a future Tory government would reintroduce tough laws against possessing the drug.

Mr Blunkett said politicians should be honest about whether they had tried the drug - used by an estimated three million Britons.

He said he had never tried cannabis himself and added: "If I had, I would be quite transparent about it."

The call threatened to embarrass Cabinet colleagues including Tony Blair, who has never revealed whether he tried cannabis while a student at Oxford in the Seventies.

In a newspaper interview published today, in which Mr Howard demanded a return to hardline policies on cannabis, he refused to say whether he had ever taken the drug.

Mr Blunkett pointed out that under the law as it now stands promising youngsters, including would-be politicians, could end up with a criminal record if they were caught with cannabis.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "Let's ask him (Mr Howard) did he ever smoke it? I never smoked it. If I had, I would be quite transparent about it, because 40-odd per cent of under-30s have."

If the answer was "yes", Mr Blunkett said: "I would say fine, thanks for being honest. Now, what would your parents have said if we had picked you up for smoking, criminalised you and had you banged up in prison?"

Former Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam has admitted trying cannabis. So have several senior Tories including Oliver Letwin and David Willetts.

They spoke out in 2000 after then-shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe called for tougher cannabis laws.