Danny Kushlick
Encyclopedia
Danny Kushlick is a British
politician and founder of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation
(TDPF). He stood in the 2010 United Kingdom general election for The People's Manifesto
.
in 1996. He is currently the organisation's head of external affairs. He has previously worked with various support organisations, covering learning difficulties
, unemployed ex-offenders, drug counselling, and homelessness. He is on the council of the International Harm Reduction Association, and is a member of the British Society of Criminology
's Advisory Council.
In 2004, he co-authored the report After the War on Drugs: Options for Control, which is a critique of current drug policy in the UK and recommendations for reform.
's The People's Manifesto
in the 2010 general election in the Bristol West constituency. Kushlick only stood on policy – the legalisation and regulation of drugs – which was drawn from the original manifesto.
At Mark Thomas's show at the Royal National Theatre
on 7 April 2010, a selection of policies were directly put forward to Kushlick by members of the audience:
Kushlick's party platform
indicates that he will avoid taking the UK to war, and thinks that "the most important 'special relationship' isn't with the US, but with your mum".
councillor for the Redland
ward in Bristol.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician and founder of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation
Transform Drug Policy Foundation
The Transform Drug Policy Foundation is a registered non-profit charity based in the United Kingdom working in the field of drug policy and law reform. TDPF began as an independent campaign group called 'Transform, the campaign for a just and effective drug policy', and was set up in 1996 by its...
(TDPF). He stood in the 2010 United Kingdom general election for The People's Manifesto
The People's Manifesto
The People's Manifesto is a comedic and satirical political manifesto, based on an idea by the British satirist and political activist Mark Thomas, and created by his audiences. The manifesto is made up of policies suggested and voted for by members of the public who attended Thomas's stand-up...
.
Career
Kushlick founded the Transform Drug Policy FoundationTransform Drug Policy Foundation
The Transform Drug Policy Foundation is a registered non-profit charity based in the United Kingdom working in the field of drug policy and law reform. TDPF began as an independent campaign group called 'Transform, the campaign for a just and effective drug policy', and was set up in 1996 by its...
in 1996. He is currently the organisation's head of external affairs. He has previously worked with various support organisations, covering learning difficulties
Learning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
, unemployed ex-offenders, drug counselling, and homelessness. He is on the council of the International Harm Reduction Association, and is a member of the British Society of Criminology
British Society of Criminology
British Society of Criminology is an international organization aims to further the interests and knowledge of both academic and professional people who engaged in any aspect of teaching, research or public education about crime, criminal behaviour and criminal justice systems in the United Kingdom...
's Advisory Council.
In 2004, he co-authored the report After the War on Drugs: Options for Control, which is a critique of current drug policy in the UK and recommendations for reform.
The People's Manifesto
In 2010, Kushlick was chosen to stand for Mark ThomasMark Thomas
Mark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...
's The People's Manifesto
The People's Manifesto
The People's Manifesto is a comedic and satirical political manifesto, based on an idea by the British satirist and political activist Mark Thomas, and created by his audiences. The manifesto is made up of policies suggested and voted for by members of the public who attended Thomas's stand-up...
in the 2010 general election in the Bristol West constituency. Kushlick only stood on policy – the legalisation and regulation of drugs – which was drawn from the original manifesto.
At Mark Thomas's show at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
on 7 April 2010, a selection of policies were directly put forward to Kushlick by members of the audience:
- Drugs will be legalised and their production will be nationalised (and Mark Thomas will become the "Drug Tsar")
- If it pisses down with rain on a bank holidayBank HolidayA bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
, it will be considered a rollover - TridentUK Trident programmeThe UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
will be scrapped - Newspaper retractions will be printed in the same font size and on the same page as the offending article
- A cap will be put on house prices, relative to the average wage in the area (and more council houses will be built in these areas)
- People who complain there are too many immigrants will be banned from restaurants serving anything other than British food
- The railways will be re-nationalised
- The introduction of a "maximum wageMaximum wageA maximum wage, also often called a wage ceiling, is a legal limit on how much income an individual can earn. This is a related economic concept that is complementary to the minimum wage used currently by some states to enforce minimum earnings...
" - The introduction of a Tobin taxTobin taxA Tobin tax, suggested by Nobel Laureate economist James Tobin, was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another...
on all currency transactions - All ministers will have had experience of their ministry prior to taking office
Kushlick's party platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
indicates that he will avoid taking the UK to war, and thinks that "the most important 'special relationship' isn't with the US, but with your mum".
Personal life
Kushlick lives in St Andrews, Bristol, with his partner and two children. His partner, Fi Hance, is a Liberal DemocratLiberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
councillor for the Redland
Redland, Bristol
Redland is an affluent suburb in Bristol, England. The suburb is situated between Clifton, Cotham, Bishopston and Westbury Park. The boundaries of the district are not precisely defined, but are generally taken to be Whiteladies Road in the west, the Severn Beach railway line in the south and...
ward in Bristol.