JOHN REID: I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE CANNABIS IN MY HOUSE CAME FROM

Defence Secretary John Reid said yesterday he had no idea where
cannabis resin found by police at his home had come from. The amount
found in a guest room was "minuscule," he said, and he insisted there
was no suggestion that he or any of his family were involved.

Police found less than one gram of the drug - with a street value of
85p - during a routine security sweep of his house in Scotland.

In a statement, the Cabinet minister said: "I can confirm that a
minuscule amount of cannabis resin was found in the guest room of my
home in Scotland last week by police carrying out a security check.

"I am told that it weighed a fraction of a gram, was worth around 85
pence and could be years old. I have no idea where it came from, or
when. There is absolutely no suggestion that this in any way involves
me or members of my family and both I and the Strathclyde Police
regard the matter as closed."

The revelation comes at the end of a troubled week for Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government.

The past few days have seen nurses heckle health secretary Patricia
Hewitt, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admit an affair and home
secretary Charles Clarke face calls to quit.

The cannabis discovery is thought to have been made several days ago,
but was only made public yesterday.

The house is within Reid's former constituency of Hamilton North and
Bellsill in Lanarkshire. After boundary changes last year, he became
MP for Airdrie and Shotts.

At the time of the find, Reid was not in the house - the Reid family
home when his first wife Cathy was alive.

"Hundreds" of people are said to have been in the house over the years.

She died in 1998, and the couple had two sons. Reid, 58, later
married the film director Carine Adler.

Reid is one of Labour's ministerial heavyweights. He has been health
secretary, Northern Ireland secretary, Scottish secretary and leader
of the House.

In 2000 he was among ministers who refused to say whether they had
ever used cannabis, and while serving as Northern Ireland secretary
he said that those convicted of using cannabis "can expect to feel
the full force of the law".

In a statement, John Corrigan, the assistant chief constable of
Strathclyde Police, said: "I can confirm that we have investigated
the discovery of a small piece of cannabis resin in a guest room of a
house within the force area.

"The substance weighed less than one gram, with a street value of
approximately 85 pence. The owner of the house has co-operated fully
with police and is not suspected of having committed any crime or offence."

Corrigan added: "It is a regular occurrence for Strathclyde Police to
find or become aware of small quantities of class C controlled drugs
that are not in someone's possession.

"This particular matter has been dealt with in line with the normal process."

The force said a report would not be being submitted to the procurator fiscal.