Michael Gove was reminded of previous admissions that he has taken class A drugs as he tried to tout the government’s new ban on laughing gas.
The sale of nitrous oxide to the public will be outlawed as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour, Gove confirmed on Sophy Ridge.
The Levelling Up secretary said the “scourge” of nitrous oxide is turning public spaces into “drug-taking arenas” and is helping fuel anti-social behaviour that ministers are determined to stamp out.
The ban comes despite an assessment by the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) concluding it would be disproportionate to bring in an outright ban given the level of harm associated with nitrous oxide.
But Gove said he agrees with a view pushed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman that tougher action is required.
He was even so kind as to gloss over his own drug-taking past.
Watch what he had to say below:
Related: Banning laughing gas will stop ‘hordes of youths loitering in parks’ – Braverman
