howard  truanted to play snooker  conservative leader michael howard has admitted he used to play truant to spend time with his school friends at a snooker hall.  mr howard said his time at jack s snooker hall in llanelli in the 1950s had not done him  any lasting damage . but he told the times educational supplement that truancy was  very bad  and said  firm action  was needed. mr howard also called for a return to o-levels and more classroom discipline.  mr howard eventually left llanelli grammar school - and the snooker hall - to go to cambridge university. he said:  i don t think it s done me any lasting damage. nor has it made me a snooker world champion.  there might have been some occasions when we left early of an afternoon.   i m just being honest. i think truancy is a very bad thing and that firm action should be taken to deal with it.  another player who has failed to win snooker s world championship - jimmy  the whirlwind   white - has previously admitted missing lessons  instead spending his days in smoky halls.  tony meo [another player] and me used to spend all of our spare time there   mr white said   we loved the game and the atmosphere.  school went out of the window. i went for a while and then started taking time off.  mr howard s fellow welshman ray reardon - known by his fellow professionals as  dracula  - won the snooker world championship six times  having left school at 14 to work as a miner. and terry griffiths  like mr howard from llanelli  won the tournament in 1979. it is not known whether the two of them ever clashed cues at jack s.