Pubdate: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 Source: Observer, The (UK) Copyright: 2005 The Observer Contact: http://www.observer.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315 CAMERON HAS THE RIGHT TO STAY SILENT But Frankness On Drugs Is Better As a public-relations man, David Cameron will have expected, during the course of his leadership bid, to have been questioned about drug use. He will also, along with his astute media adviser Michael Gove, have worked out what he thought would be his best line of reply. The issue is, after The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley originally asked the question, whether that traditional response - I'm not telling and anyway I was young - was good enough. Cameron, in his otherwise brilliantly choreographed emergence, has been more than eager to employ elements of his personal biography to enhance his candidacy. He has been happy even to comment on a 'near relative' who was treated for heroin addiction and to set in motion a likely pursuit by journalists for the unfortunate sufferer. It is therefore perfectly reasonable to press him on details of his past that might not fit with the image he nurtures, even if the answers may be insignificant. But we should be less stern-faced about his refusal to respond. It is utterly irrelevant to the quality of a Tory leader - or leader of any party in a modern age - that a contender for the office may have dabbled in drugs as a student or as a young man or woman. Cameron clearly has a great deal to give to improve the quality of British public life and it would be a tragedy if he were forced out of politics as a result of hounding by the press. However, though we could not give a hoot whether he smoked the odd joint, or even experimented with other recreational drugs, as a younger man, it is a pity that Cameron and his team did not seize the opportunity provided by the question to open up a much-needed debate on the subject. Cameron has rightly said, along with almost every politician for a generation, that he would like such a debate. The general expectation today is that the majority of young people will 'experiment'. Cameron has made it clear that he wants to lead a party that looks different, feels different and sounds different. This was the perfect opportunity to show that he had the qualities to lead a party confident enough to confront the subtleties of the drug debate, a subject that it has hitherto viewed as black and white. To be credible, the Witney MP may have to expand on the answers he has given about his own past. The last Tory administration was undone by its 'do as I say, not as I do' approach to issues of personal choice. He has every right to refuse to be led into a discussion of his past, but he will be missing an opportunity. This is a brief but testing firestorm for David Cameron which we hope will be speedily resolved. British politics needs him to survive intact. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFlorida)