LONDON — U.K. Labour Party boss Keir Starmer said he has “no intention” of changing drug laws in the country if his party wins at the next election.
Speaking to Anne McElvoy, the host of POLITICO’s new Power Play podcast, opposition leader Starmer said: “Other countries will take different approaches they traditionally have, but our approach is settled and not really a subject of great debate even within the Labour Party.”
Yet some in the party have been calling for just that.
Earlier this year, Labour peer and former U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett told POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast that there should be an “open debate” about how victims of drug abuse are treated, and urged Starmer to launch an inquiry into the decriminalization of drugs. Meanwhile, Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has introduced pilot projects to end the prosecution of young people caught with cannabis in some London boroughs.
They’re not alone in their changing attitude toward drug use policies. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who hosted a meeting of progressive leaders in Montreal last weekend that Starmer also attended, has introduced reforms to legalize the sale and use of cannabis. Several U.S. states have adopted a similar approach. Closer to home, Germany recently passed legislation to liberalize its cannabis laws.
But Starmer insisted he would have other priorities if his party wins the next U.K. general election, expected in 2024. “We’re going to have a huge amount on our plate,” he said. “I’m going to be laser focused on the five missions for government I’ve set out. And we don’t have the bandwidth for very much else, I’m afraid.”
In a wide-ranging interview on his approach to global affairs, the Labour leader also said one of his priorities would be “the restoration of the U.K. and its reputation on the world stage.”
Starmer, who campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, added: “I think it’s wrong to think that the only way you can be influential or play any part on the global stage is by going back into the EU. I don’t think that’s right. And if you look at what’s happened in, for example, the security field, particularly in the last 18 months since the Ukraine conflict, then actually the anchor has been NATO, not the EU.”
You can hear the full interview with Keir Starmer in the inaugural episode of Power Play here and on all podcast platforms.
