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Douglas Calder Mason (30 September 1941 – 13 December 2004) was a Scottish policymaker, writer and antiquarian bookseller. He came to be known as the "father of the poll tax".〔(Douglas Mason, An engineer of the Thatcher revolution and 'father of the poll tax' ), Alex Singleton, ''The Guardian'', 16 December 2004〕 ==Biography== He was born Dunfermline, Scotland, the son of an accountant and schoolteacher. He attended Bradford Grammar School, and read geology, then economics, at the University of St Andrews. He embraced libertarianism whilst a student, and became involved in the University's Conservative Association. Under his intellectual leadership, the St Andrews University Conservatives became a powerful group which dominated conferences of The Federation of University Conservative and Unionist Associations (FUCUA), later the Federation of Conservative Students (FCS). It used its influence to lobby the party nationally for more market-based policies;〔 the association published pamphlets calling for the sale of the Post Office; for the legalisation of the offshore "pirate" broadcasting stations; abolishing exchange controls; and ending council house subsidies.〔(Douglas Mason, Local councillor known as the 'father of the poll tax' ), Eamonn Butler, ''The Independent'', 14 December 2004〕 Largely thanks to Douglas Mason, the University Conservative association also served as a training ground in the running of election campaigns. Among subsequent Members of Parliament to benefit were J. Alan Stewart, Michael Forsyth and Robert B. Jones. Following his graduation from university, Mason settled in Glenrothes in the 1960s. Mason became a constituency agent for the Conservative Party, and he served on Fife County Council from 1967 to 1970 and on Kirkcaldy District Council from 1974 to 1988.〔(Douglas Mason, An engineer of the Thatcher revolution and 'father of the poll tax' ), ''Daily Telegraph'', 14 December 2004, accessdate=2008-08-14〕 In the 1983 general election, he stood unsuccessfully as Conservative candidate for Central Fife,〔 a safe labour seat. He did his most influential work for Adam Smith Institute, run by fellow St Andrews alumni Dr Madsen Pirie and Eamonn Butler who founded the institute in 1977. Mason became one of its regular authors.〔 In 1982, he led the Adam Smith Institute's "Omega Project" report on Local Government Policy. There he argued for the compulsory contracting-out of most local services such as refuse collection, proposed scrapping the existing local-government tax, in favour of a per-capita charge. Other policy recommendations included the privatisation of the Royal Mail ''The Last Post'' (1991); the privatisation of free British reading ''Ex Libris'' (1986); the privatisation of the Forestry Commission〔 the complete removal of arts subsidies ''Expounding The Arts'' (1987), abolition of restrictions on drinking ''Time To Call Time'' (1986), and that ending free reading in public libraries ''Ex Libris'' (1986). In 1989, before the handover of Hong Kong to China, Mason proposed the creation of a 'New Hong Kong', located off the west coast of Scotland, in which Hong Kong Chinese holding British passports would be able to settle.〔(Scotland could be site of new Hong Kong, says study ), ''Glasgow Herald'', 20 June 1989〕 The idea was ridiculed by George Galloway, then Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin, as 'bizarre and unbelievable'.〔(House of Commons Hansard Debates for 5 Jul 1989 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Douglas Mason」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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