ABSOLUTELY SPLIFFING

Cameron Did Smoke Dope At Eton And Oxford But He Still Refuses To Say
Anything About It

DAVID Cameron faced damaging questions about his honesty last night
after refusing to comment on revelations that he DID smoke cannabis
at Eton and Oxford.

A new biography discloses that the Tory leader narrowly avoided
being expelled from Eton aged 15 for smoking "spliffs".

It also refers to his "infrequent and moderate" consumption of
cannabis during his three years at university.

Declaring that Mr Cameron's integrity could become an election
issue, a Labour source said: "Nobody cares what drugs he took, or
how recently he stopped taking them.

"The question is, why isn't he just upfront and honest with the
people about it? What has he got to hide?"

Mr Cameron has previously refused to comment on claims he took
drugs. Yesterday, he was still staying mum.

Speaking outside his expensive farmhouse in Dean, Oxfordshire, he
said: "Like many people I did things when I was young that I
shouldn't have done, and that I regret.

"I'm not issuing a denial. What I'm saying is that I think it's an
important principle that politicians are entitled to a private past.

"Today, I'm a Member of Parliament putting myself forward to be
Prime Minister.

"You're perfectly entitled to follow me round, put cameras up my
nose, and have a good look at me.

But I wouldn't recommend it." There was no immediate Tory backlash
over the disclosures or Mr Cameron's silence.

But ex-Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Tebbit warned: "My advice to him
would be: Get it out of the way and it will be a seven-day wonder.

"If you don't, people will keep turning up another expose."

Mr Cameron's refusal to deny the claims could also make him
vulnerable to Gordon Brown, his probable rival in the next election.

Mr Brown has made it clear he has never taken drugs.

The new biography, Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative, claims
that in 1982 teenager Cameron admitted to Eton head teacher Eric
Anderson that he smoked cannabis. He was named by another pupil.

In the school's worst drug scandal, seven pupils were expelled.

But because Cameron had only smoked the drug and not dealt in it, he
was confined to school grounds for two weeks.

He was also fined and ordered to copy out hundreds of lines of Latin
verse, the book says. If true, the revelations would make Mr Cameron
the first leader of a major party and first prospective Prime
Minister to have indulged in illegal narcotics.

In the Tory leadership election frenzy in October 2005, Mr Cameron
would only say that he had a "normal university experience" when
asked if he had taken drugs.

He has also refused to comment on speculation that he took cocaine
when a PR executive with Carlton TV. Yesterday Mr Cameron's close
friend, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, declared: "The public
really don't care."

Mr Osborne, once pictured with an arm round a woman described as a
"cocaine-snorting hooker", said: "It's not been denied by David.

"But he's also said that we're not in the business of saying
politicians can't have a private life before they come into politics."

Shadow Foreign Secretary and former party leader William Hague said:
"We all did things we regret. It's one of those things, I suppose.

"This makes no difference to my view of him or, I think, to the view
of most people in the country."

Shadow Commons leader Theresa May said: "Politicians are entitled to
a private past."

Oliver Letwin, chairman of the Tories" policy review, denied the
claims would damage Mr Cameron in the voters' eyes.

He said: "I think he's done the right thing all along." He also
dismissed the suggestion that the focus on Mr Cameron's privileged
upbringing - and publication of photos of him in a #1,000 tailcoat
at Oxford's champagne-quaffing Bullingdon Club - would damage his image.

Labour Cabinet Ministers avoided going on the attack publicly in a
sign that attitudes to cannabis are now far more liberal in Britain.

The drug has been reclassified from Class B to C and possession is
mostly dealt with by a caution.

Home Secretary John Reid said: "I think it was Andy Warhol who said
most statements could be answered with the question 'So what?'

"I think this is one of those 'So what?' moments. Do we really care
if David Cameron some years ago was involved in doing something
wrong? "I think the public will probably say 'So what, let's move on
and find out what he stands for'."

Last month, Mr Cameron said he would consider legalising cannabis
for medicinal use if he won power. But he ruled out decriminalising
it for recreational use.

He said on his webcameron website: "If you decriminalise, you
increase the availability and make it more difficult for parents
trying to keep children away from drugs."