[THS] UK: MPs seek answers on Nutt sacking

[Peter Webster]

[The person who composed that subject line might get sacked if he's not careful]

BBC News

Thursday 05 Nov 2009

MPs have asked Home Secretary Alan Johnson to explain his decision to
sack the government's chief drugs adviser.

The Commons Science Committee has written to him asking for
clarification of the reasons for the decision and the sequence of
events leading up to it.

It wants to know whom he consulted before removing Professor David
Nutt and whether the adviser broke any rules in making comments about
cannabis risk.

Mr Johnson said Prof Nutt overstepped the mark in criticising drug
policy.

Version of events

The home secretary said he lost confidence in the chairman of the
advisory panel on the misuse of drugs after he suggested cannabis
posed less of a risk than alcohol and tobacco.

Prof Nutt's sacking led to an outcry in the scientific community and
prompted two other members of the panel to quit.

The committee has discussed holding an inquiry into the affair but
wants to gather evidence from the main players before deciding whether
to conduct hearings.

Lib Dem MP Phil Willis, the committee's chairman, said he was asking
the home secretary for his account of events leading up to the sacking
in light of the "considerable" media coverage of the story.

He said the committee was keen to ascertain whether Prof Nutt had
breached the panel's remit or the code of conduct for scientific
advisers in any of his public comments about the relative risk of
different drugs.

In addition, Mr Johnson has been asked to confirm whether he
consulted Professor John Beddington, the government's chief scientific
adviser, before taking the decision and if not, to explain why.

The home secretary is also being pressed on his views on the future
of the advisory panel and whether, following the spate of
resignations, it has "sufficient expertise" to carry out its
functions.

The committee has also written to Prof Nutt and Prof Beddington
asking them for their version of events.

In July, the committee recommended that members of advisory
committees should not be criticised for publishing scientific papers
or making statements as professionals independent of their public
role.

It also urged ministers to speak up in support of scientific advisers
whenever their independence was threatened by political actions.

Prof Nutt has criticised the decision to sack him and floated the
idea of setting up a separate advisory body.

Gordon Brown has backed the home secretary's decision, saying the
government could not afford to send "mixed messages" on drugs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8344895.stm