Ministers have abandoned plans to raise the motorway speed limit to 80mph because of fears that the change would alienate women voters. The decision will anger many drivers, most of whom want higher speeds, but will be welcomed by road safety campaigners and environmentalists. The move could protect council revenue from speeding fines at a time when local authorities are being squeezed by funding cuts. Experts predicted that the only way of enforcing an 80mph limit would be to install cameras to monitor average speeds on all motorways, a costly move that would be widely opposed. The initiative was announced as a populist measure at the Conservative Party conference in 2011, after the Government’s commitment to “end the war on motorists”. Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary at the time, said that raising the limit would bring hundreds of millions of pounds of economic benefits from faster journey times. He added that the number of drivers breaking the 70mph limit was undermining the principle of policing by consent. Last May Mike Penning, then the Roads Minister, announced that he would set up 80mph trials on parts of the motorway network. Only last week his successor, Stephen Hammond, told a motoring forum that the initiative was still alive and suggested that trials would be held next summer. However, Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, made clear in an interview published in The Times today that the plans
In the wake of the sacking of Professor David Nutt as chairman of the United Kingdom's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) by Home Secretary Alan Johnson and the subsequent resignations of Dr Les King and Marion Walter, three more scientists have now resigned. This follows a meeting on Monday between the Council and Alan Johnson, at which the Council sought reassurances that the integrity of the Council would not be compromised. Prior to the meeting, the Council sent a letter to Mr Johnson to the effect that a majority of its membership was deeply concerned about the circumstances relating to and surrounding Professor Nutt's dismissal: "For some members, these matters are of such seriousness as to raise the question whether they can, in good conscience, continue on the Council."
Alan Johnson, the politician at the centre of the row, taken in 2007 
The scientists in question are the chemist, Dr Simon Campbell,  a psychologist, Dr John Marsden and a pharmaceutical consultant, Ian Raglan. 

Commenting on his resignation on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Dr Campbell said "I do not accept the reasons given for Professor Nutt's dismissal, I think that was a clash of personalities. I do not agree with the manner in which he was dismissed. Such an abrupt dismissal was a humiliation for such a respected scientist." 

These resignations means that the ACMD is no longer constitutionally able to function and that six positions will need to be filled. There is a possibility that further resignations may occur as a number of the remaining members of the Council are reported to be unhappy with the prevailing situation, although many of those who do remain sit in the capacity of representatives of organisations with an interest.