NEWPORT West MP Paul Flynn has backed a call by AMs for the medical use of cannabis to be legalised.

Earlier this week AMs approved a motion calling on the Welsh Government to lobby the UK Government to make the drug available on prescription to people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis or arthritis.

Speaking in Parliament this week Labour MP Mr Flynn, who has long campaigned on the issue and last year introduced a Private Member's Bill calling for the drug's legalisation for medical use, welcomed the news.

Addressing leader of the house Andrea Leadsom, he said: "Will the government follow suit and give a fair wind to my Private Member’s Bill, which would liberate seriously ill people from the threat of prosecution for using their medicine of choice?"

Ms Leadsom replied: "The honourable gentleman (Mr Flynn) has championed this issue in the house. As he knows, the government keep the matter under review, but it is not our policy to legalise the use of cannabis."

Criminal law is not devolved, so such legalisation would have to carried out by the UK Government.