Simon Schama, historian and university professor (21 August 2013) "If I ruled the world, I would make it impossible to make “sin” a crime. I would make it a matter of international human rights that nobody should ever be prosecuted, much less punished, for blasphemy. Jefferson argued for that in 1770 but it doesn’t seem to have come about." Read More
Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and author(23 February 2011) "The prohibition against taking more than very small quantities of liquids or unguents on planes is demonstrably ludicrous. It started as one of those “Look at us, we’re taking decisive action” displays, the ones designed to cause maximum inconvenience to the public just to make the dimwitted Dundridges who rule our lives feel important and look busy." Read More
Erica Jong, author (12 November 2015) “In my kingdom we will create a structure that allows people to communicate about sex. Simply taking kids into drug stores and buying them condoms isn’t enough. Parents are often as shy of discussing sex as their children. We need courses that include both generations and they need to be led by psychiatrists or social workers who understand shyness and shame.” Read More
Grayson Perry, artist(22 August 2012) "All of my governments would be entirely female for at least a generation, or until men learnt to adapt to the modern world. Individually, of course, women can be as corrupt and bigoted as men, but collectively I think they would produce a more empathetic and pragmatic form of politics. Men seem to be preoccupied with concepts like “honour” and “respect.” Read More
Sandi Toksvig, writer, presenter and comedian(14 December 2011) "No politician would be allowed to represent her or his community until they had had a life. No one should decide how the rest of us might live until they have spent 30 years working in the real world. There would be no “career” members of parliament and some matters would be removed from the political sphere." Read More
John Lydon, former lead singer of the Sex Pistols (16 October 2014) “Eventually, money will disappear; there won’t be any need for it. There would be no jealousy or greed in my kingdom, only creativity. This might sound idealistic but anyone who is going to run the world needs to be idealistic.” Read More
Michael Morpugo, novelist (21 March 2013) "My idea was to wipe out mankind and womankind almost entirely, but not quite, so that never again could you could set yourselves up as tyrants over the rest of the earth, my earth. Never again could you think of yourselves as gods. Never again could you inflict the horror and suffering of war on the world." Read More
Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post (26 January 2011) "I would oversee the creation of a killer app that gauges the state of your mind, body, and spirit and suggests the steps you need to take to realign yourself. Think of it as an internal GPS, showing you the best, most direct route to your own wisdom and creativity" Read More
Michael Sandel, political philosopher (19 September 2012) "I would rewrite the economics textbooks. This may seem a small ambition, unworthy of my sovereign office. But it would actually be a big step toward a better civic life. Today, we often confuse market reasoning for moral reasoning. We fall into thinking that economic efficiency—getting goods to those with the greatest willingness and ability to pay for them—defines the common good. But this is a mistake." Read More
Irvine Welsh, author (24 April 2014) “The legalisation of all drugs would be on my agenda. Celebration and festival are integral parts of our culture, and are fuelled by intoxication. Even in Islam you have whirling dervishes who are effectively trying to get off their head by spinning round; that desire to alter consciousness is implicit in every culture, and taking intoxicants is just another manifestation of it.” Read More
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group(19 June 2013) "I would place greater emphasis upon nurturing practical skills. Despite running a global brand, I didn’t learn the difference between net and gross until I was 50. Providing financial literacy and basic business education in schools could help people manage their everyday finances, from credit card bills to balancing books, and stimulate a new appreciation of how business can have a positive impact on individuals and communities." Read More
Mohamed ElBaradei, law scholar and former acting VP of Egypt(20 July 2011) "A humanitarian force, chartered with the 'responsibility to protect' against war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other conflicts in which innocent civilians are the primary victims, would stand ready to intervene, to prevent the kind of slaughter taking place in Libya and elsewhere." Read More
Slavoj Žižek, philosopher and critic (23 January 2014) “I would enact laws propagating smoking. Heavy smokers die earlier— just imagine how much less the state would have to spend on retirement and healthcare. In Soviet style, every smoker who consumes at least two packs per day would pay lower taxes and receive a special medal for being a Public Hero of Financial Consolidation.” Read More
