The People’s Manifesto
Monday, 26 April 2010
Way back in June last year, Gill and I ran a No2ID stall for a Mark Thomas gig at a theatre in Wellingborough. In return for being able to have a stall at each gig on the tour, No2ID volunteers agreed to help Mark out with one of his many cunning plans. Little did we know where it would all lead. Gigs based around crazy and radical ideas from the audience for a people’s manifesto? Less than a year later, the book is out and Danny Kushlick is standing as the People’s Manifesto candidate for Bristol West in the General Election. Game on…..
The basic idea was that each audience would listen to all of the proposals and then choose a policy to be included in the manifesto. You can read some of them on the Mark Thomas website or a selection, with Mark’s commentary, in the book. I’ve set out below a few of the policies which have been selected, which vary from the utterly sensible to the pant-wettingly funny and many of which are both.
FROM THE WISE…
• Party manifestos should be legally binding
• There should be a maximum wage
• MPs should have no job other than that of MP
• The Daily Mail should be forced to print ‘the Paper that supported Hitler’ on its masthead
• There should be a public referendum before going to war
…TO THE WISE & WACKY
• Shut down tax havens….bomb Switzerland
• Models should be chosen at random from the Electoral Roll
• The Police should wear badges which display the words. ‘How am I policing?’
• Everybody should be given the day off on their birthday
• Those in favour of ID cards should be banned from having curtains
MIXING HUMOUR AND POLITICS
Anyone who has seen Mark Thomas in action will know that he can make people think and laugh at the same time and that is a valuable gift. If we do have to suffer a Conservative government after 6 May, we are going to need a sense of humour and people like Mark Thomas to challenge us to take action to make the world a more tolerable place. This country needs change and Mark Thomas is an agent of change. In the meantime, treat yourself to this fantastic little book which might just keep you sane through the election campaign and beyond. Enjoy…..
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