Vote for my man, Danny Kushlick

bristol | drugs and crime | news report Thursday April 08, 2010 18:03 by fw

Election time... yawn... but this time - yes this time we might see some fun as a few people stand to rock the boat. One of those is standing in Bristol - Bristol West to be exact - which just had a bit of a boundary shake up.. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/en...0.stm - "let us celebrate the first candidate to declare: "The most important 'special relationship' isn't with the US, but with your mum."

Danny for PM?

So who is standing that is not more of the same? The Bristol based director of Transform - who campaign against the existing crazy drug prohibition laws.

Here some more:

However, one candidate really stood out, a chap called Danny Kushlick – who, I am delighted to say, is now the official candidate for the People's Manifesto. Kushlick is going to stand in Bristol West, which is a three-way battle with a Lib Dem majority (recent boundary changes are thought to favour the Lib Dems).

Kushlick is a great candidate, with a history of campaigning. Readers of the Guardian might recognise his name, as he has written in these pages on the issue of drug prohibition. This is Kushlick's subject, having worked firstly as a drug counsellor before going on to help set up Transform, the advocacy and research foundation working to end the global war on drugs and replace it with an effective, humane and just system of regulation and control. Not surprisingly, his main policy is the legalisation of all drugs, but he has selected four other policies he sees as priorities:

1. The introduction of a Tobin tax (Robin Hood tax) on foreign financial transactions.

2. The Daily Mail should be forced to print on the front of every edition the words: "This is a fictionalised account of the news and any resemblance to the truth is entirely coincidental."

3. There should be a referendum before going to war.

4. MPs should have to wear tabards displaying the names and logos of the companies with which they have a financial relationship, like a racing driver.

Kushlick's campaign website and details will be online soon. There is an election rally on 20 April in Bristol at the Metropole: further details to be announced. Anyone wishing to help support Kushlick's efforts in Bristol West should go to the People's Manifesto Facebook page. In the meantime, let us celebrate the first candidate to declare: "The most important 'special relationship' isn't with the US, but with your mum."