The Government has been accused by Labour of performing a 'screeching U-turn' over policy surrounding drug testing at music festivals.
The Manchester Evening News told last week how Parklife at Heaton Park couldn't test drugs confiscated from festival-goers, as it has done with drug testing charity The Loop since 2014, without a special licence.
Parklife co-founder Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester's night-time economy advisor to the mayor Andy Burnham, said home secretary Suella Braverman would have 'blood on her hands' over the decision to enforce licences for drug testing at clubs and festivals.
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A licence, he said, hasn't been needed before, with the festival and The Loop having their own arrangement in place with Greater Manchester Police. Now the issue has been raised in the Commons, with one MP calling for a full debate.
Labour's Sam Tarry MP for Ilford South, told the House: "Since 2014 the Home Office has allowed the testing of drugs to take place at many, many festivals, saving potentially hundreds of lives.
"What happened just over a month ago was a screeching U-turn from the Home Office, inexplicable to many festival organisers across the country. For me, harm reduction has got to be the focal point of organising those fantastic musical events.
"I would like to see a debate in Government time that gets to the bottom of this inexplicable Home Office U-turn because in prior times the Home Office itself has sanctioned this activity taking place on site at festivals with Home Office branding, and in fact has even permitted Greater Manchester Police and Avon and Somerset Police, as well as having their own forensic early-warning systems in place, to allow this stuff to take place so that people can participate and make adult informed choices about what they are going to do or not going to do, and do so in a much safer way."
Lord told the M.E.N. that blocking drug testing 'at the 11th hour' was 'one of the most dangerous, stupid decisions I have seen in my 30 year career'.
"I am extremely concerned about festival season now," he said. "No one is condoning drugs, we are condoning harm reduction. If there is a fatality now over the next few months, we will always wonder whether this could have been prevented by continuing a common sense approach of back of house testing."
And in a post to Instagram he said: "Since 2014, we've been testing drugs on site at Parklife. If there is anything that is worrying to the medics on site, we'll put out an alert. But last Wednesday the Home Office turned around and said 'nah, you're not doing it'.
"We tried to come up with a plan B, to go to Manchester University, and they blocked us again there. This is coming from the Home Office, the home secretary Suella Braverman. Drug testing saves lives. It is that simple. It's going on, we don't condone it. But let's take the sensible approach.
"And I'm telling you now, if there are any drug-related deaths at festivals this summer that we think could have been prevented by drugs testing, well blood on your hands Suella Braverman. Bang out of order."
A parliamentary committee report in 2021 called for greater legal clarity around drug testing at festivals, saying the licences to handle controlled drugs have been for fixed sites only – not mobile sites such as those that would be required for festivals.
Such licences from the government can take months to arrange, and can cost in excess of £3000, it's understood.
The Home Office said the testing of confiscated drugs could go ahead at festivals if the drugs were taken to a licensed site, according to The Telegraph.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said the Government's position has not changed and that drug testing for controlled substances requires a licence. But Ms Mordaunt said she recognised the issue was a 'concern to other members of this House'.
She said: "Our position on this has not changed. Drug testing providers must have a licence to test for controlled drugs, including at festivals. We have always had that condition in place and made it clear. And law enforcement has always had the responsibility to uphold that legal requirement.
"We have not received any applications for drug testing at the major festivals this summer, and we continue to keep an open dialogue with any potential applicants."
