This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/6350909.stm
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Cameron smoked drugs, book claims | Cameron smoked drugs, book claims |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Allegations that Conservative leader David Cameron took drugs at school have been made in a new biography. | Allegations that Conservative leader David Cameron took drugs at school have been made in a new biography. |
| The Mail on Sunday claims the book says Mr Cameron, then aged 15, was one of several boys called before the head of Eton College for smoking cannabis. | The Mail on Sunday claims the book says Mr Cameron, then aged 15, was one of several boys called before the head of Eton College for smoking cannabis. |
| He admitted it and was grounded, but was not the ringleader, the paper says. | He admitted it and was grounded, but was not the ringleader, the paper says. |
| A Conservative Party spokesman said: "David has always maintained politicians have a right to a private life before they come into politics." | A Conservative Party spokesman said: "David has always maintained politicians have a right to a private life before they come into politics." |
| He pointed out that the alleged incident happened almost 25 years ago. | |
| Honesty | |
| The Mail on Sunday, which says it is to serialise the book Cameron, The Rise Of The New Conservative from next month, reported that school authorities called police in over suspicions that a number of pupils had been involved with the drug. | |
| Mr Cameron was "gated" - confined to the school grounds - for two weeks after admitting smoking the drug, but was not suspended, the paper says. | |
| Throughout his leadership campaign in 2005, Mr Cameron declined to answer questions about drug taking when they were put to candidates. | |
| He repeatedly stressed he had a right to a private past and refused to answer them. | |
| The former Conservative Chairman Lord Tebbit told BBC News 24 it would have been better for Mr Cameron to admit to taking cannabis when he was first asked about it during his campaign. | |
| "On the whole I've always thought that it was better to be pretty honest about things because sooner or later the truth of the matter tends to come out and it's always better to have brought it out yourself rather than have somebody else bring it out." |