Page ^ Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 21, 2019
relations with Somaliland, which broke away
from neighbouring Somalia in 1991.
But crucially, the US – which backs Somalia –
does not.
It is uncertain whether Miss Symonds applied
for a US Electronic System for Travel Authori-
zation (Esta). If she did, she would have been
scuppered by her travel history.
An Esta is an automated system which
decides whether tourists can enter the country
for 90 days without a visa, providing they do
not pose a security risk.
In 2016, a question was added to the Esta
form, asking: ‘Have you travelled to, or been
present in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya,
Somalia or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011?’
Answering ‘yes’ to this question will see an
Esta application refused outright.
Miss Symonds had hoped to visit the United
States instead of travelling with Mr Johnson
to this weekend’s G7 summit of the world’s
major economic powers in the French seaside
city of Biarritz.
She has a series of meetings in America as
part of her job as an adviser for Oceana, a non-Continued from Page OneAbove and right: Photos posted online by
Carrie Symonds during her trip to SomalilandDowning Street can’t
intervene on her behalfprofit organisation that seeks to protect the
world’s oceans.
Miss Symonds now faces a race against time
to get the ban lifted. Efforts to resolve the mat-
ter quickly have been made more difficult
because she cannot – officially – ask Downing
Street to intervene on her behalf.
When she moved into No 10, officials issued a
carefully worded statement saying it would
result in ‘no extra cost to the taxpayer’.
This reflected the fact that she is not married
to Mr Johnson, who is still wed to second wife
Marina Wheeler, the mother of four of his chil-
dren. It means that unlike No 10 spouses such
as Cherie Blair or Samantha Cameron, Miss
Symonds does not have her own Downing
Street staff.
Miss Symonds, the US embassy in London
and Downing Street all declined to comment
last night. But a diplomatic source said: ‘We
are hopeful this can be sorted out in time forof children from affluent families said
they had drunk alcohol in the past
week, and 37 per cent had in the last
year. This compared to figures of
seven per cent and 27 per cent for
those from poorer families.
Parents are the main source of alco-
hol for underage drinkers – providing
71 per cent of their drinks. And two-
thirds of the youngsters said they
drank at home, while just 40 per cent
said they were likely to drink at par-
ties with friends.
The UK’s chief medical officer
advises that an alcohol-free child-
hood is best, with no alcohol con-
sumed before the age of 15.
Andrew Misell, from charity Alcohol
Change UK, warned that some mid-
dle-class parents try to copy their
European counterparts by offering
children alcohol at an early age – mis-
takenly believing this will teach them
to drink responsibly.
He said: ‘In reality, the amounts of
JUST one in six schoolchildren have
ever smoked a cigarette – the lowest
level on record.
Only five per cent of pupils aged 11 to
15 are regular smokers, while 16 per
cent have smoked at some point in
their lives, an NHS survey revealed.
This is the lowest level since records
began in 1982, down from 19 per cent in
2016 and a peak of 9 per cent in 1996.
Although smoking rates have plum-
meted, the use of e-cigarettes has
remained stable over the past twoyears. One in four children say they
have used e-cigarettes, and six per
cent are regular vapers.
Experts believe tougher laws on sell-
ing cigarettes to under-18s have helped,
with the proportion of teenage smok-
ers who successfully bought cigarettes
from shops falling from 6 per cent in
201 to 23 per cent last year.
The drop in smoking was welcomed
by the British Lung Foundation, but it
said much more needs to be done to
help young people kick the habit.Worrying rise in cannabis use
PAGE 19PAUL THOMAS’ VIEW
alcohol given to children in
the wine-drinking countries of
Europe are very small; and
children’s introduction to wine
occurs as part of an overall
moderate drinking culture.’
He added: ‘The situation in
the UK is very different, and
there is a real risk that by
introducing children to alco-
hol we are simply assisting
them to join in with British
drinking culture rather than
some continental ideal.’
Sue Taylor from Balance, an
organisation that works with
local councils to reduce alco-
hol consumption, said: ‘It
seems ingrained in our psyche
that the French mode of
drinking is the way forward,
where you give children a glass
of wine with a meal.
‘But in fact this can be a trig-
ger for drinking to excess, and
increases their chances of tak-
ing drugs or binge drinking or
unprotected sex.’
Vanessa Hebditch, Director
of Policy at the British Liver
Trust, urged parents to adopt
a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy. She
said: ‘The earlier the age at
which children drink, and the
more they drink, the greater
the chance of developing seri-
ous liver disease in adult life.’
The report also revealed that
one in four pupils from well-off
families have tried drugs, com-
pared to one in five frompoorer backgrounds. Ten per
cent of affluent pupils said
they had taken drugs in the
previous month, compared to
seven per cent for those with
low family affluence scores.
Experts said part of the
problem is that wealthy pupils
have the money for drugs.
Drugs policy expert Kathy
Gyngell, co-editor of the Con-
servative Woman website,
said: ‘These figures are a
deeply disturbing reflection of
lax middle-class parenting
and a lack of awareness of the
real dangers of what their chil-dren are doing.’ An investiga-
tion by Tatler magazine earlier
this month revealed that drug
use is rife among teenagers at
private schools – and many
are starting aged just 12.
Yesterday’s report also
revealed that more than half
of young people who had
recently drunk alcohol,
smoked cigarettes and taken
drugs were unhappy.
This compared to 36 per cent
who had done one of these
things and 22 per cent who
had not done any.
A spokesman for the Alcohol
Information Partnership, which
represents drinks companies,
said adults should ‘demon-
strate a sensible approach to
drinking’ to youngsters.
Comment – Page 16By Eleanor Hayward
Health Reporter
‘It seems ingrained
in our psyche’CANNABIS is the most popular drug
among children – and one quarter have
tried an illegal substance.
About 2 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds
said they had tried drugs, including
nitrous oxide or ‘hippy crack’ and so-
called legal highs. But in 201, only 15
per cent admitted to trying them.
The likelihood of having taken drugs
increased with age, from 9 per cent of
11-year-olds to 38 per cent of 15-year-
olds, an NHS report said.
Some 8 per cent said they had smokedcannabis in 2018, the same as in 2016 –
but there is a growing tolerance
towards illegal substances among
young people.
Teenagers are much more likely to
think it was acceptable to try drugs
‘once to see what it’s like’ than in 2010.
About 13 per cent of teenagers
believe it is fine to try cannabis, com-
pared with 8 per cent in 2010. And 3
per cent said it was alright to try
cocaine, compared with less than 2
per cent eight years ago.Young
smokers at
record low
- but 1 in 4
have vaped
Middle classes
‘leading children
to alcohol abuse’
Under-16s twice as likely to drink as poor
MIDDLE-CLASS children
are almost twice as likely to
drink as those from poorer
backgrounds, a major study
has found.
Wealthy children are also more
likely to take drugs, according to
an NHS survey released yesterday.
Experts called the figures a ‘dis-
turbing reflection of lax middle-class
parenting’ and urged those with chil-
dren to adopt a zero-tolerance
approach to underage drinking.
They suggested affluent parents
were more likely to offer children a
glass of wine with meals, without
realising this puts their health at risk
- and may lead to binge drinking.
The study revealed that those who
drink, smoke or take drugs were more
likely to be anxious and unhappy.
The NHS Digital survey questioned
13,664 year 7 to 11 pupils – mostly
aged 11 to 15 – from 193 English
schools between last September and
February this year. Some 13 per cent