INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE: Ben Holden-Crowther

Entrepreneur to focus on social care

ENTREPRENEUR Ben Holden-Crowther is to run as an independent candidate in the Newbury constituency in the upcoming General Election.

Mr Holden-Crowther, from Bucklebury, is a cryptocurrency consultant after running a successful book publishing company.

The 19-year-old will prioritise social care in Newbury, and said it was vital that Brexit no longer overshadowed human issues in the town.

“While we’ve been focused on Brexit, there are 1.2 million older people and 1 million disabled people without the supplies needed to eat, dress and wash themselves, so it’s pretty terrible,” he told the Newbury Weekly News.

“You see examples of some severely ill people waiting 14 hours to go to the toilet, and I think Brexit shouldn’t be overshadowing real human problems like that.”

Mr Holden-Crowther - who attended Bradfield Primary School and Reading School - said he would support raising taxes by two per cent in order to help the less well-off in society.

“I think we should be a country with higher taxes to support people who are struggling.

“If you have a too progressive tax system then it deters higher earners, but if you did two per cent on every bracket then it wouldn’t make too much of a difference to people, especially if you invest it in this poorest in society then it wouldn’t be a terrible decision.”

As for Brexit, Mr Holden-Crowther – who has a three-month old daughter – is non-committal on his position.

“I’m not going too hard in either direction. I’m not saying we should leave without a deal, but I think we really have to be careful with the capital markets.

“We are extremely linked with the EU and you can’t just say, let’s forget about all the legislation.

“I’m not completely against a second referendum because I think then the public would get some scrutiny over the final Brexit deal, but we have to be sensible and see how the situation develops.

“I would support a reasonable deal, the one we have now isn’t terrible – I think the most important thing is getting it out the way because after three years people don’t want to be talking about it anymore.

“There are much bigger issues to be talking about.”

He will also support local businesses and aim to protect the environment.