British prime minister David Cameron has had a hell of a week. His woes began in early April, when he was implicated in the Panama Papers tax avoidance scandal (following the leak of 11 million files from offshore law giant Mossack Fonseca). After initially refusing to comment on his personal finances, a red-faced Cameron admitted on Thursday, April 10, to owning a profitable stake in tax-free offshore trusts set up by his father, who also left him a £300,000 inheritance. Cameron has been vocal against tax avoidance in the past—labeling British comedian Jimmy Carr "morally wrong" in 2012 for investing in similar schemes—so this revelation has left him looking like a pure hypocrite.
Now, the pressure is mounting for him to follow in the footsteps of Iceland's leader, who relinquished power on April 5 after being caught up in the very same scandal. Petitions for Cameron's departure have gained over 100,000 signatures, #ResignCameron was recently the U.K.’s top trending topic on Twitter, and Lily Allen and Stormzy are not impressed with him. Cameron's detractors have made it clear: they want him out. Enough time has passed that it seems unlikely the PM will actually step down—he’s weathered scandals before—but the betting odds of his resignation are still surprisingly decent. Which led us to wonder: what if this whole thing really could be decided online? The FADER reached out to 8 young British artists to ask what their priorities would be if they were running the country. Their manifestos pretty much all included legalizing weed, along with some other searingly well-made points.
“Schools would do meditation in the mornings, and teach the true history of Africa.”—Connie Constance
“How can the prime minister be doing the same thing that he’s passing legislations against? I’d make it so that if any member of parliament was found to be doing the same, they’d lose their seat. Serve the public or leave it, innit.”—Jammz
