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From our news archive:
1997:
Home Secretary's Son in Cannabis Honey Trap
Jack Straw named in latest tabloid excess scandal
The Sun wins appeal against gagging injunction
3 Scottish newspapers name cabinet minister in drug case
Headline Story | The Profile | The Full Story
Headline Story
William Straw has been cautioned after attending a London police station with his father Monday 12 Jan. The Daily Mirror "honey trap" journalist was also let off for possession of cannabis.
The Sun won the right to publish the name of the Cabinet Minister whose son, William, was at the centre of a cannabis honey trap. The Attorney General overturned his previous gagging order by ruling that the tabloid newspaper are now allowed to publish the names involved.
The Scotsman and two other Scottish real-time newspapers named the Labour Cabinet Minister at the centre of a drugs furore earlier.
As Home Secretary Jack Straw is responsible for the nation's law and order. Read our Profile (culled from the archives of www.labour.org) of the amiable MP for Blackburn whose family life has now overshadowed his fight against crime. Many will say it is to his credit that on hearing the news he immediately took his son down to the local police station to give a statement. Few parents would take such a step in the real world. Indeed his popularity actually increased after the affair.
The original intensive in depth investigation was by The Daily Mirror, whose sister paper The Independent on Sunday has led a "legalise-it" campaign over recent months. The Mirror's trawl through the Minister's son's private life follows a public backlash at such poor-taste excess.
Headline Story | The Profile | The Full Story
The Profile:
Jack Straw
MP for Blackburn, Lancashire
Responsibilities
Home Secretary; Law and Order, Immigration
Department
Home Office
Background
Born: 03/08/46, Buckhurst Hill, Essex
Married with 2 children
Educated at Brentwood School; University of Leeds; Inns of Court,
School of Law
Before entering Parliament he was a barrister and political adviser
to Barbara Castle and Peter Shore
Visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford since 1990
Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society since 1995
Member of the Fabian Society, GMB and the Society of Labour Lawyers
Main leisure pursuits: running, cooking (especially puddings),
music
MP for Blackburn since 1979
Shadow Home Secretary since 1994
Member of the Shadow Cabinet since 1987, Shadow Environment Secretary
from 1992-94, Shadow Education Secretary 1987-92
Opposition spokesperson on the environment from 1983-87 and on
Treasury & Economic Affairs from 1980-83
Member of the NEC from 1994-95, President of the National Union
of Students from 1969-71
Main political interests: home affairs, including constitutional
issues, economics, industry, local government
Headline Story | The Profile | The Full Story
The Full Story:
Honey Trap
The Minister's son is alleged to have supplied a small amount of cannabis (1.97 grammes) to an undercover "investigative journalist" employed by the Mirror newspaper. The attractive blond reporter consumed a large quantity of alcohol with the minor whilst "inviting" him to supply her with drugs.
The Minister accompanied his son to a police station before Christmas after being confronted by the newspaper. The matter is in the hands of Crown Prosecutors who will determine whether any proceedings will be brought against the seventeen year old.
Meanwhile the journalist was arrested for possession of the cannabis resin she obtained from the teenager.
Gagged
Earlier, as we publish from London, we were not allowed to reveal the identity of the Minister involved. The child's anonymity is protected under youth law in England and Wales. Scotland has a separate legal system and newspapers there are free to disclose the identity of young offenders provided the information is not published south of the border.
Rumours regarding the identity of the Minister intensified and the "media establishment" were all in the know.
Jack Straw wanted to be named, but he too could not break the anonymity law. Following the developments in Scotland the Sun appealed against a gagging injunction imposed earlier preventing it from disclosing the identity of the politician's son.
Newsgroups such as alt.britain.politics were said to have already revealed the identity of the Minister. Just don't say we sent you!
Headline Story | The Profile | The Story
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