Professor David Nutt's sacking caused serious concern, Lord Drayson said

The sacking of the Government's chief drugs adviser has caused "serious concern" among the scientific community, the Science Minister Lord Drayson has acknowledged.

In an interview with The Times, he said ministers were now set to agree new principles for the treatment of independent scientific advice in the wake of the row over the dismissal of Professor David Nutt.

Lord Drayson refused to be drawn on whether Home Secretary Alan Johnson had been right to remove Prof Nutt as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs after he criticised Government decisions on the classification of cannabis and ecstasy.

However, he made clear that in future both he and the Government's chief scientific adviser Professor John Beddington should be consulted before any such action was taken against any other independent scientific adviser.

"If I had been asked by the home secretary before he took that decision I would have said that a decision to dismiss Professor Nutt would have caused serious concern," he said.

"It's very important that in future the chief scientific adviser and the science minister are consulted before ministers take decisions to sack independent scientific advisers."

He refused to say whether he had considered resigning over the issue, saying only: "I think that questions like that should never be answered."

Lord Drayson did however welcome proposals for a new set of principles for the treatment of independent scientific advice released on Thursday by a group of leading scientists. He said the Government would be publishing clarified guidance to ensure that scientific advice was kept free from political interference before Christmas.

"These ideas about how we can further clarify the rules of engagement between government and scientists are very helpful," he said.

Liberal Democrat science spokesman Evan Harris welcomed Lord Drayson's comments but said the scientific community was still seeking recognition that Prof Nutt's dismissal was unjustified. "Professor Nutt deserves an apology for the damage done to his reputation. Only then can a line be drawn under this affair," he said.