SYMPATHY CROSSES PARTY LINES

POLITICS can be brutal, but even Jack Straw's enemies refrained from
calling on him to quit yesterday. Sir Brian Mawhinney, shadow home
secretary and one of the Conservatives' hard men, was the very model of
gentlemanliness, saying that his "sympathy lies with the Straw family" and
he had "no inclination to call for the Home Secretary's resignation".

The reason is not hard to find. With regard to their children's behaviour,
politicians' motto tends to be: "There but for the grace of God go I."
Whatever a parent's views, a teenager's behaviour is impossible to control.

The Conservatives know this as well as Labour. Three years ago the home of
a minister responsible for drugs and policing was raided after a party held
by his teenage son. While Michael Forsyth, then Home Office minister of
state, was away on holiday, his 16-year-old son was caught by police at the
gathering at which drugs were found.

Tabloid reports at the time said the teenager had "openly boasted of
smoking cannabis, and held a boozy get-together at the house". The incident
is instructive for two reasons. First, Mr Forsyth not only survived the
incident, but his political career prospered when he was promoted to
Cabinet rank as Secretary of State for Scotland.

More interesting still, when he took up that post - which included
responsibility for drugs policy north of the border - Mr Forsyth was far
from a hawk on the issue. Although from the right of the Tory party, Mr
Forsyth floated the idea of a "fixed penalty system" for possession of
cannabis, reducing the offence to the level of a speeding ticket. Only the
opposition of Michael Howard, then Home Secretary, stopped such a reform
north of the border.

A similar reform is unlikely to emerge from Mr Straw, who has gone out of
his way to stress his hawkish stand in the battle against drugs. But the
event has illustrated beyond any doubt that cannabis use is widespread,
permeating even the households of respectable middle-class parents. Sir
David Steel, former leader of the Liberals, knows this only too well
because his son was convicted of growing cannabis. As one Tory ex-minister
put it: "All those with kids know that you can't control aspects of their
behaviour when they go out for an evening."

If anything, rebellion is probably more likely than not to manifest itself
in the families of politicians. One close colleague of Mr Straw argued:
"Jack will command sympathy among the public as a parent confronting very
difficult personal circumstances in his family. Being Home Secretary adds
not only to the stress on him but also to that on his family. You can
imagine very difficult tensions within the family, with the son being
ribbed about his dad telling young people they should observe curfews and
be in bed early. You can understand how it happened."