Alistair Darling, the recently appointed chancellor, has admitted that he  experimented with cannabis when he was younger.

The chancellor's admission followed a wave of similar so-called 'confessions' by other cabinet ministers, reports The Times.

The revelations were kicked off by home secretary Jacqui Smith, who admitted on national television that she had used the drug 25 years ago, but had regretted doing so.

Following Smith's comments, Darling said he had used cannabis 'occassionally, in my youth'.

Darling's deputy, chief secretary to the Treasury Andy Burnham, also revealed that he has used cannabis 'once or twice at university and never since'.