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But the home secretary found himself under fire from members of the scientific community. Lord Winston, the Labour peer and professor of science and society at Imperial College London, said he was "very surprised and disappointed" by Johnson's actions. On Nutt's claims that ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes, Winston said: "The overwhelming evidence is probably cannabis is actually less harmful than tobacco or alcohol, that's what the chief scientist is saying.
He added: "I think that's a very reasonable scientific point to make. And of course, science is not about absolutes. The sacking follows the publication of a paper by the Centre for Crime and Justice at King's College London, based on a lecture Nutt delivered in July. He repeated his familiar view that illicit drugs should be classified according to the actual evidence of the harm they cause and pointed out that alcohol and tobacco caused more harm than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.
Alcohol should come fifth behind cocaine, heroin, barbiturates and methadone. Tobacco should rank ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, he said.
Balls said he wholly endorsed the official Labour plan to halve the deficit over four years, but signalled a more aggressive attack on the coalition's cuts.
He told Sky News: "For me, it is a huge and important responsibility to take on this task. When I was first studying the economy in the s, that is when unemployment hit 3 million under Margaret Thatcher because of reckless cuts to public spending. I fear we are repeating those days now. You either learn the lessons of history or you repeat the mistakes.
That's what the Tory-led coalition is doing. Put growth and jobs first. Miliband had fought to persuade Johnson to remain in his post after the shadow chancellor explained his personal difficulties to the Labour leader in a meeting last week.
But Johnson, who has not returned to Westminster since his meeting with Miliband, told the Labour leader on Wednesday this week that he was determined to resign. Labour sources said Miliband was happy with Johnson's performance and was not perturbed by recent criticisms of him.
But Johnson's personal difficulties were understood to have been compounded by his unhappiness as shadow chancellor. The only possible explanations were that he either had an awareness of his limitations rare at that level or there was something in his personal life that meant he didn't want the hassle.
His blog also suggests political infighting among the shadow cabinet has fuelled the rumour mill about Johnson's departure. Westminster correspondent Jim Pickard says the reasons for his depature are still not yet clear. On Monday he returned to say that he wanted to quit. The final decision was made this morning ahead of a trip around the country by Miliband.
Adding fuel to Guido Fawkes rumours, Pichard also adds that a source told him that "Balls was spotted last week buying an expensive bottle of champagne in Soho: of course this, if true, could merely be a co-incidence. Martin Kettle agrees with this assessment and sets out the dangers more bluntly :. Not just shadow chancellor to a new leader, but a richly ambitious would-be successor who may find himself torn between the wish for Miliband to succeed and the longing for him to fail.
Yvette Cooper moves from shadow foreign secretary to shadow home secretary - her husband Balls' former post - as Ed Miliband reshuffles his shadow cabine t. Here's the Guardian splash story which runs in tomorrow's paper under the headline: Balls back at heart of Labour as Johnson quits over personal life.
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News Politics Alan Johnson. Alan Johnson has stepped down as shadow chancellor. Johnson is expected to make a statement soon: follow live coverage here. Ed Miliband narrowly beat his brother David in the leadership election last year, although he did not command a majority of MPs, and his performance in the Commons chamber against David Cameron has been regarded as lacklustre 5. It will be published shortly but here's the key section: Johnson's resignation follows a difficult debut in which he was mocked for failing to know the national insurance rate.
He added: Ed brings great exerpertise to this role and I am looking forward to working with him, on the direction that Alan and I have already set out. Some interesting analysis too: This from TwoSwords: Johnson was wrong for shadow chancellor but he had the right idea on the general direction Labour needs if its to win again and he was one of the few "normal" people in frontbench politics. And a counter view from PromisedMemory: This is good news.
Iain Martin of the Wall Street Journal 6. Andrew Gwynne Thanks for everything AJ - one door closes, another one opens. Jamie Reed 6. Balls was asked whether he would shift Labour's economic policy. He said: Ed and Alan in the last few months have set out the direction that is going to continue.
It is tough and he is a great loss, but I am going to carry on the work he has done. The Lib Dems wheeled out Stephen Williams, co-chair of the party's parliamentary Treasury committee, who came up with this pithy rejoinder: The decision to appoint Ed Balls as shadow chancellor shows that the Labour Party is now determined to carry on with the Gordon Brown economic plan that caused so much trouble for this country.
Yvette Cooper who is the new shadow home secretary, replacing her husband, Ed Balls, paid tribute to Johnson: "Alan is a great loss to the Shadow Cabinet after being both a brilliant minister and campaigner for the Labour Party, and I wish him and his family well. Here's the Guardian splash story which runs in tomorrow's paper under the headline: Balls back at heart of Labour as Johnson quits over personal life That's it for the time being but we will be back later if there are further development and reaction.
We have switched off comments on this old version of the site. To comment on crosswords, please switch over to the new version to comment. Read more The home secretary faces mass resignations from the government's drug advisory body over his decision to force out its chairman, who accused ministers of distorting scientific evidence on cannabis. Another member told the Guardian that the experts were "planning collective action" against Johnson, adding: "Everybody is devastated.
We're all considering our positions. Nutt said there was "no future" for the council in its present form, and it is thought the group's members may use a meeting next Monday to announce a mass resignation. In a letter in today's Guardian , Johnson accuses Nutt of "campaigning against government policy" but insists he was not forced out because of his opinions.
Scientists on the council are said to be preparing a letter to ministers seeking assurances that they will remain free to set their agenda and to speak freely about their research and findings.
The Times today reported that it was possible the 28 remaining members would quit if their concerns were not addressed before a council meeting next week. The collapse of the panel, which provides ministers with evidence about the harm caused by different drugs, would be a severe embarrassment for the government and deal a heavy political blow to Johnson, who has so far steered clear of the controversies that dogged many of his predecessors at the Home Office.
As the row intensified yesterday, Nutt said he had been contacted by more than half the council's members, who had shared their "horror and disgust" over the manner of his dismissal and were now considering resigning en masse. Dr Les King, a former head of drug intelligence at the Forensic Science Service, was first to act, followed by Marion Walker, the head of the substance misuse service at Berkshire NHS foundation trust.
King said he had decided to step down because he felt Johnson had denied Nutt his "freedom of expression".
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