Ben Rae: Liberal parliamentary candidate for Hackney South
Ben Rae, Liberal parliamentary candidate for Hackney South
Ben Rae is standing as a candidate for the Liberal Party in Hackney South and Shoreditch. He is a 75 year old retired security officer who has lived at the same address in Hoxton since 1994.
For Rae, “The essence of Liberalism is a belief in the equality of personal worth of every individual and a society which maximises the chance of all, regardless of colour, creed, race, gender and sexual orientation”.
Rae’s key policies:
Land Value taxation – an annual tax on the unimproved value of every land site, in order to address the current housing crisis by making property prices fall, and to address the financial crisis by reducing the need for budget cuts. The tax would be introduced gradually, starting at 10 per cent and increasing to 95 per cent.
UK withdrawal from the European Union. Rae says, “Britain can only once again be a truly free election if it withdraws from the EU, and repudiates all the more lunatic directives that have been imposed in a wholly undemocratic manner.”
Note: this article was published Wednesday 5 May 2010.