'No plans' for random drug tests of cabinet ministers, Downing Street says

Downing Street has said there are "no plans" for random drug tests of cabinet ministers, after Conservative candidate for London mayor Shaun Bailey said he would urge all large employers in the capital to undertake them.

Mr Bailey has said he will ask businesses with more than 250 employees to drug-test workers and publish the results if he wins his way into City Hall in 2021.

Under his proposals, laid out in an open letter, companies would be urged to sign up to a drug-testing charter that would see them routinely test staff members for narcotics.

A Downing Street spokesman told reporters he had "not yet seen" Mr Bailey's plans.

But asked if Boris Johnson would introduce random drug tests for cabinet members, the spokesman replied: "We expect the highest levels of professionalism from everybody in government. That remains the case, but there are no plans for that."

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