HAGUE INFURIATED OVER LILLEY'S CALL ON CANNABIS

WILLIAM HAGUE slapped down Peter Lilley last night after the former deputy
Tory leader indicated he will call for the decriminalisation of cannabis.

Mr Lilley, who was dropped from the shadow cabinet over the summer, has been
moving towards a radical stance on drug issues.

Now outside the constraints of shadow cabinet responsibilities, he is free
to present the views that deviate so sharply from traditional Tory thinking.

But when news of Mr Lilley's intentions leaked last night, Mr Hague was
infuriated at what he sees as another example of his former deputy's bizarre
lack of political nous.

The controversy comes at a difficult time fro Mr Hague desperately trying to
re-establish the Tory Party as a force in main-stream politics. The
spectacle of the man who only a few months ago as in charge of Tory policy
proposing the decriminalisation of cannabis caused consternation at Tory
headquarters yesterday.

Only a week ago Mr Hague told political journalists that drug dealers who
are twice convicted of supplying hard drugs to children should get life
sentences.

Last night a spokesman for Mr Hague tried to distance the Tory leader from
the embarrassment.

he said: "William's position is perfectly clear. He is firmly opposed to
all forms of illegal drug taking. We are opposed to the legalisation of
cannabis.

"It is crystal clear. Only a week ago Mr Hague called for tougher penalties
for people pushing drugs to children. Peter Lilley is not front bencher.
When he was, he fully supported the party line. What he is saying now is
not the leadership's view."

Mr Lilley's decision to discuss his views in a series of speeches is seen as
the act of a man still bitter at his treatment by the leadership, although
he has insisted that he is still "100 per cent loyalist."

The former Tory Social Security Secretary has discussed this radical
approach towards drugs policy with friends.

They looked at ways of distinguishing between people who bought cannabis for
their own use and those who make a living out of hard drugs.

The Tory leadership is highly sensitive about the decriminalisation of
drugs. One of Mr Hague's front bench spokesmen, Alan Duncan, dropped a
chapter on his own views on drugs from a book last year.