Keir Starmer going tough on drugs is latest example of Labour ducking the argument in order to win

Sir Keir Starmer is a clever man, and one who has dedicated his life to public service.

Lord Falconer said both administrations had "failed" by not finding a resolution.

As a lawyer, he fought the death penalty for 20 years all over the world, worked for free to support environmental activists following protests against McDonalds, convinced the Lords that evidence from torture should be inadmissible and prosecuted the thugs who killed Stephen Lawrence.

He is a man whose beliefs and work is progressive, of the left, and advocating for reform. But something has changed.

During the Labour leadership election, he made a series of radical pledges, many of which he now refuses to stand by, such as public ownership of utilities, rail services and the abolition of university tuition fees.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the Beatrice wind farm off the Caithness coast. Picture: Paul Campbell/PA Wire

This is seen as a calculated compromise, abandoning views you hold because they are arguments they don’t think they’ll win. It’s not a lack of belief in the policy, it’s a fear it isn’t popular.

It was Labour leadership candidates' indifference on benefits that allowed Jeremy Corbyn to win, Labour hesitancy on Brexit that allowed Britain to leave, and Labour cowardice on immigration that has allowed misplaced fears to fester.Now it’s happening again, this time on drug reform. Having previously praised Scotland’s switch to warnings rather than prosecutions for people caught with Class-A substances, he’s now going hard on cannabis, and not in a fun way.

Speaking this week, the Labour leader vowed his government would never dismiss crime as “low-level” – suggesting that even apparently minor issues like repeatedly smoking cannabis near children’s windows had a devastating effect on people’s lives.

The problem is, this is just absolute nonsense. Cannabis is a minor drug, sure it smells bad but taking a hard stance on it sees punishments that do not fit the crime, and allows an industry that could produce tax remain a financial boost for criminals.

Now I should explain here, I don’t see this from the perspective of a user. I’ve not tried a cigarette, because, and this is an exclusive, they are bad for you.

I would put my three biggest red lines for dating as holidaying in Dubai, taking cocaine and enjoying the interviews of Piers Morgan.Coke production destroys the rain forest, funds sex trafficking, and sees death after death after death. If you take it, you aren’t a progressive, a good person or an ally, and are putting fun over people’s lives. But cannabis, another exclusive here, is not coke, and banning things doesn’t work anyway.The former lord chancellor Charles Falconer, a Labour peer, claims drug prohibition had been a “tragic disaster” for the poor in Britain and across the world. It’s put a billion-pound industry in the hands of criminals, and it’s not going away.

Labour has no plans to legalise drug use, in fact it’s going further and pretending weed is a huge threat to society. Booze ruins more lives, so goes gambling, so does politics.

The drug policy sector wants reforms to "save lives" rather than prioritising political point-scoring.

This tough stance came following a report into how institutionally prejudiced the Met are. You can't trust the police, let's give them more reason to enact prejudice.

Labour don’t want to look soft on crime, but in claiming cannabis ruins lives, they’re again surrendering on an argument they could win.