{"id":364563,"date":"2026-03-25T15:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/364563\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:23:08","slug":"ex-tory-justice-minister-used-chemsex-parties-to-inform-government-drug-policies-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/364563\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Tory justice minister &#8216;used chemsex parties to inform government drug policies&#8217; | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Tory justice minister Crispin Blunt who admitted drugs charges used chemsex parties to inform government drug policies, a court has been told.<\/p>\n<p>Blunt, the MP for Reigate in Surrey between 1997 and 2024, admitted four counts of possessing drugs, including crystal meth, at Westminster Magistrates&#8217; Court.<\/p>\n<p>He has been fined \u00a31200 with a \u00a3480 victim surcharge and \u00a3200 costs.<\/p>\n<p>Blunt, a justice minister in the Cameron administration between 2010 and 2012, made a 30 minute speech during which he told the court he should never have faced criminal charges.<\/p>\n<p>He said he had considered taking the case to a jury trial, to argue that he should be acquitted on the basis that the charges of possession of drugs should not exist.<\/p>\n<p>His house in Horley, Surrey, was raided by police in October 2023 in relation to separate allegations of rape, which were later dropped.<\/p>\n<p>Politics latest: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/politics-latest-starmer-labour-iran-trump-cobra-12593360\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Streeting warns NHS trusts could be broken up<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Blunt told the court on Wednesday that possession of drugs charges against a first-time offender usually end with an out-of-court caution, and hinted at a belief that his political views on drugs reform, trans rights, and support for Palestinians may lie behind the case brought against him.<\/p>\n<p>He also suggested former prime minister Rishi Sunak was &#8220;complicit in war crimes&#8221; over his support for Israel after the October 7 atrocity.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Zarah Dickinson told the court: &#8220;It was the first time he had come out as a gay man, and during his ministerial role he saw first hand the harm caused by the government&#8217;s drug policy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She added: &#8220;He began to take a professional interest in a policy that inflicted lasting harm on society.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Then he began his involving in the chemsex scene.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;His knowledge of first hand use of drugs was used to inform how policies could be implemented.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skynews-crispin-blunt-conservative_6323893.jpg\"   alt=\"Crispin Blunt stood down as an MP in 2024. Pic: PA\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Image:<br \/>\n        Crispin Blunt stood down as an MP in 2024. Pic: PA<\/p>\n<p>Read more from Sky News:<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/fa-hits-back-at-reforms-woke-nonsense-complaints-as-ipswich-town-criticised-over-farage-visit-13524078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">FA hits back at Reform&#8217;s &#8216;woke nonsense&#8217; complaint<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/two-men-arrested-in-connection-with-golders-green-arson-attack-13523827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arrests following ambulance arson<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to Ms Dickinson, Blunt was &#8220;polite&#8221; and &#8220;calm&#8221; when his house was raided &#8211; and pointed out the drugs to officers.<\/p>\n<p>During his interview, Blunt explained how he would host chemsex parties and how the use of GBL would be limited to once per hour.<\/p>\n<p>Dickinson said crystal meth worth between \u00a3200 and \u00a3250 was found on Blunt&#8217;s bedside, as well as around \u00a3200 of GBL in a syringe in a laptop bag.<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis worth less than \u00a310 was also found, alongside weighing scales with residue from powders on them.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Dickinson said the investigation began following &#8220;offences alleged to have occurred during a chemsex party at Mr Blunt&#8217;s home address in September 2023&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The 65-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing drugs &#8211; one count of class A and three of class B &#8211; at Westminster Magistrates&#8217; Court.<\/p>\n<p>The drugs he admitted having were the sedative GBL, alongside cannabis, methamphetamine and methylamphetamine &#8211; the last of which is currently known as crystal meth.<\/p>\n<p>Blunt told Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram on Wednesday that he believes politicians have failed to properly consider drug policy reform.<\/p>\n<p>They have &#8220;sat with moral simplicity that drugs are bad, they are banned, without regard to the appalling consequences of that simple position&#8221;, he said. &#8220;It keeps politicians safe on the moral high ground.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Following the raid on his house in 2023, Blunt announced he would not be standing in the 2024 general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Tory justice minister Crispin Blunt who admitted drugs charges used chemsex parties to inform government drug policies,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-364563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}