The Danifesto

Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation this week as she's totally failed to make any progress with Brexit. Whilst I don't really agree with her politics, I do have sympathy for her. Trying to keep both the EU and all the British MPs happy was an impossible task. She's been blamed for Grenfell Tower and Universal Credit but these were caused by her predecessor, who can also be blamed for the whole mess that is Brexit. 

As endless Tory MPs announce they want to be the next PM, I started to wonder what I would do if I was prime minister. Welcome to the Danifesto. 

Spending

My big plan is to increase spending on public services in order to start fixing problems caused by years of austerity. "Where would the money come from to do this?" I hear you ask. My idea is to undertake a major review into the structure of public services and work to cut both the excessive wages that many in managerial roles have and the number of managers there are. I'm convinced with better organisation we don't need so many managers. If we cut the amount of money we are spending on managers that means there would be more money for the people who are actually delivering the services like police officers, nurses and doctors, teachers and teaching assistants. 

Police and Law

Whilst my plans should already mean there are more police officers on the streets and crime levels should reduce, there's more I want to do. I plan to undertake a review to see whether civilians who deal with speeding offences can be reduced. It's often considered that speeding fines are a vital source of income for police forces but I suspect it's not as high as you might think by the time you consider the people managing fines as well as the paperwork and technology required to give them in the first place. Speeding in itself rarely causes accidents and the police should be more focused with drivers who are using phones, don't have insurance or are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

Speaking of which, I want to relax the law on drugs and would legalise the use of marijuana following the example of Canada. Criminalizing weed leads to criminal gangs and the exploitation of children, all for a drug which has limited impact on health- about the same as tobacco many doctors would argue. Similarly I would legalise prostitution following the Netherlands model, again helping to prevent the exploitation of women and children. 

Education

My big plan in this field is to stop testing children with the first exams happening at GSCE level. Children don't need to be tested and it puts unnecessary pressure on teachers who are already doing an challenging job. Finland is proof of how an education system can be successful without testing young children. 

The lack of exams gives the opportunity for the National Curriculum to be a lot broader. Teachers will be given much more choice about what to teach their students and will be encouraged to take a much more cross-curricular approach than the current curriculum allows. Whilst English and Maths are still vitally important they should not mean that subjects like art and music are barely taught and a more holistic approach to the curriculum can ensure every subject is given proper weighting. 

Further up the education system, I plan to reduce university tuition fees. Whilst I would like to immediately scrap them altogether I fear this cannot happen overnight but I want to make it easier for people be able to go to university in an age when a degree is needed in order to earn a living wage. 

Health

A key area which requires significantly more funding is mental health and I pledge to increase funding significantly to ensure everyone can access mental health care when required and can do so without having to travel huge distances across the country. 

I would also legalise euthanasia. The laws on this would be ensure that people are not able to use euthanasia as an excuse to get away with murder but would help those with terminal conditions die with dignity at a time they choose. Two doctors would have to sign off on every case and people would go to special centres, following the model used in Switzerland. 

Environment 

I would move forward plans to scrap single-use plastic and put a tax on disposable coffee cups. I would also start schemes similar to the one used in Germany and other EU countries where you receive payment for taking items like plastic bottles to recycling points. 

I plan to ensure that renewable energy targets are met and wherever possible exceeded, reducing the country's reliance on fossil fuels. I will give funding to local councils and grants to private companies to install more electric charging points and increase the tax on high emissions vehicles further. All cities failing to meet clean air targets will have a congestion charge in order to stop people dying from breathing in toxic gases every day. 

I will also be strict on looking after our own environment, only giving shooting licenses to those that really need them and increasing the penalties for those that hunt or otherwise kill wildlife. Building rules that are meant to protect precious places will be adhered to rather than bent whenever the current government feels like it. I would also like to increase the number of protected areas, particularity wildlife corridors which can be a vital lifeline for wildlife in our towns and cities. 

Brexit

I'll level with you here, I don't have an answer for this one. As far as I see it there are three options. 

1) Scrap Brexit. Ideally that's what I'd want to do but this would cause a huge rift in the country, potentially causing civil unrest and certainly causing the further rise of far right groups. 

2) Leave with No Deal. This has the potential to be a calamity and cause the British people major issues with significant job losses in some areas, a lack of workers in other sectors and a huge increase in prices. 

3) Make a deal. Whilst technically an option, I think it is virtually impossible that any deal can exist that both the EU and a majority of MPs in parliament would agree to. 

So there you go, a vision of Utopia run by me. Perhaps thought I'll wait until Brexit is sorted out before I move into Number Ten...