CANNABIS should be made legal and Tube drivers BANNED from striking, a London Mayor hopeful claims.

Andrew Boff told The Sun that as part of his radical plan to kick out Sadiq Khan from office, he would allow cannabis to be sold in the same way that alcohol and cigarettes are now.

7 Andrew Boff wants to make cannabis legal if he becomes London Mayor Credit: Andrew Boff

Outlining his war on drug dealers he said: "These are evil people and the Government is helping finance their evil because they are scared of what the public will think."

In an exclusive interview as part of a series profiling all three Tory candidates, the 60-year-old IT consultant insisted that the Government is "handing over the supply chain to criminals" and must take the matter into its own hands.

Calling on ministers to adopt the Canadian model of legalising and regulating weed, the ex-leader of the Tories in City Hall insisted it would help protect Londoners from the dangerous long-term effects of high-potency skunk - lifetime episodes of paranoia and psychosis.

Comparing the issue to gay marriage in Ireland, which many people thought the public wouldn't support, he added: "the public are not as stupid as politicians think they are."

7 The London Assembly Member used to smoke weed too - but says it was much weaker in his day Credit: Andrew Boff

Mr Boff said: “The stuff I smoked back in 1979 - my last! - wasn’t the same stuff as is around today. You can’t regulate this without legalising it,” he said.

He admits he will have to get the Government to pass a new law as it’s not in City Hall’s remit, but still wants to make the case to help Londoners by “making the case” for decriminalising the drug.

“We’ve got to protect our young people,” he stormed. “It’s about keeping them safe - and you have to involve people in their own safety.”

And in the capital he wants to put drugs testing facilities in night clubs so revellers can be sure the stuff they are taking is the real deal - and isn’t contaminated with anything else.

Currently anyone found possessing cannabis can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both punishments under UK legislation.

But a large majority of Brits are in favour of legalising it for medicinal use, it was revealed earlier this year.

7 High-strength skunk can cause permanent damage Credit: Getty - Contributor

His next big idea is to ban tube drivers from going on strike over pay - sure to be a popular policy among Londoners who are sick and tired of having to face hell every time there's a dispute among drivers.

“This industrial muscle has been used to ruin other people’s lives,” he said.

He wants to see a judge-supervised disputes resolution system, where they would be banned from striking over pay.

“Tube drivers are not badly paid, he added. “It’s staggering London can be held to ransom every time a pay demand comes around.”

Transport for London should also try and fill its black hole of funding by scrapping perks for friends, family and lodgers, he argued.

And driverless trains and allowing more advertising on the tube will save cash too.

7 Sadiq Khan is 'personally responsible' for letting crime rise in the capital, Mr Boff said Credit: Handout - Getty

And he also revealed he holds Khan "personally responsible" for the hike in crime in the city in recent months - lashing out at his comments about reducing the number of stop and searches.

As part of his plans to combat London’s spiralling violence, he wants to outsource paperwork usually done by cops to other staff, to get them frontline police back on the streets.

“When people are being stabbed and shot, the public want their police to be more active, not less.”

More than 100 suspected murders have taken place in the capital since the beginning of the year - and knife crime across Britain has hit a seven-year high.

7 Crime - including knife attacks, gun offences and robberies - has soared in the last year, as the latest figures reveal

Yesterday his fellow Mayoral candidate Joy Morrissey told The Sun that as a mum, she’s worried about what could happen to her seven-year-old girl in Lawless London.

And the children of single parents are particularly at risk as working mums can’t be around all the time.

Mr Boff backs increasing the number of police out there too, but says we should stop “obsessing” over the precise numbers of staff.

“Despite what Khan and Cressida Dick have said about crime rated stabilising, it is not,” he added.

Crime is a public health emergency and should be treated like such, he claimed - pointing to the successful schemes used in Glasgow to get a grip on the problems.

“It’s the violence that is more concerning - it’s a disease. We need to have a different attitude towards it.”

7 He also wants to ban tube drivers from going on strike and holding Londoners to ransom Credit: Andrew Boff

Who is Andrew Boff? Born: Hillingdon, West London

Age: 60

Elected? London Assembly member since 2008. Ran for the Conservative nomination for Mayor in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Former Hillingdon Councillor and ex-leader of the Tories in the London Assembly.

Boff, who like his fellow Mayoral candidates, voted to leave, is unhappy with Theresa May’s soft Brexit Chequers deal.

He opted to quit the bloc but wanted a Norway-style model to stay linked to the single market - something Mrs May has long since ruled out.

“Whatever way you voted, I don’t think the Chequers deal does it,” he admitted.

He’s worried that it doesn’t include London’s world-leading financial services industry, and could mean that suffers after we leave.

He thinks the only other female PM, Margaret Thatcher, would have fought to stay inside it and carry on trading with Europe freely.

“She had the same attitude I did, I loathe the European superstate and the centralisation of power, but the idea of a trading nation, giving us a market of millions of people, was inspiring and one of her greatest legacies.

“It’s a huge shame we’re going to get rid of it - that’s not why I voted for Brexit.”

7 Boff, a Brexiteer, right, is unhappy with Theresa May's soft Brexit Chequers deal Credit: Andrew Boff

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So is it time for another referendum to decide how exactly we leave? Labour are under pressure to back a second vote at their upcoming party conference, as unions and pro-EU local parties turn the heat on Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Boff’s not sure, but he doesn’t rule it out.

"I like referendums that are driven by the people,” he hints.

"Democracy is about including people in the decision making process.”

A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said today: “All Londoners know that the rise in violent crime has been made far worse by the Conservative government’s cuts of £1 billion to the Metropolitan Police, as well as their cuts to youth centres and community groups across London.

"This makes it all the more staggering that not a single Conservative mayoral candidate will admit this out loud and call on the government to step up. They are clearly putting the interests of the Conservative Party ahead of Londoners.

“Since Sadiq became Mayor, the number of days lost to strikes on the Underground has reduced by 65 per cent compared to his Conservative predecessor. The facts speak for themselves - Conservative mayors cause more strikes and therefore more disruption and delay for commuters.”

Piers Morgan and Sadiq Khan get into furious row over crime stats in London as GMB host asks ‘Is my child going to be stabbed in the street?’

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