Tony Benn

classic.

By chance I reread his 'arguments for socialism' yesterday. classic, of course.

More classic than dud.

more classic than other old skoolers like dennis skinner

Skinner's more of a lulz-man and serial Tory-baiter tho, whereas Tony Benn has that righteous slightly other-worldly cross between Simon Stylites and a George Bernard Shaw hero going on. Which isn't to say he doesn't have a good strong grip on the real world, but to say that he doesn't always publically act like he does. Maybe should've put the boot in a bit more when it mattered. See also: Michael Foot.

I'll say classic. I read Arguments For Socialism at school, in the midst of the Tory landslide of '83, surrounded by kids whose parents had lost their jobs in '79-'82 but who were voting for Thatch anyway cos, y'know, Michael Foot wore a donkey jacket to the Cenotaph and we really showed those Argies.

Classic. His diaries are terrific and essential reading for those who might despair when the country votes Cameron et al in next year (or the next). He's seen it all.

Skinner's more of a lulz-man and serial Tory-baiter tho

The Beast of Lolsover.

Benn & Dawkins = My Heroes.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

RIP

sad news

aw shit, really?

RIP big man. let the hypocrisy commence.

What a shit week for decent left-wing people.

RIP Tony, wish there were more like you :(

RIP brother. I guess I'll re-read Arguments for Socialism today. I have some of his diaries kicking around too, somewhere. A hard week for the Left.

RIP

Damn. I met him briefly in December and he was looking extremely frail. Such an inspirational figure.

inspirational is spot on

Telling it like it is on Thatchers legacy, just as relevant now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETqOvBKnKdk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

inspirational but his status as a political outsider is a pretty depressing illustration of where people of principle actually stand in the grand scheme of things

when i was a child, the media always seemed to refer to him a wedgwood benn (and sometimes as 'wedgie benn' right?). when did that stop?

Really sad news, RIP.

RIP. only person who stood up to ali g.

Got to see him speak about ten years ago and it had a profound effect on me. A true inspiration and a very sad day indeed.

xp of sorts whenever I read his given name I always think of this

To Anthony Wedgwood Benn (without his permission), Spike Milligan
Anthony Wedgwood Benn
Is one of the bravest of men.
The worst in life he can fear
Is ending it as a Peer!

What a depressing week for the British Left. First Bob Crow, and then Tony Benn. And the accompanying carousel of hypocritical hagiography from the Right, who only love and respect people from the Left when they’re dead.

Yes I know that in his pre-“Tony” days he shut down the pirate stations (and I don’t want to think of Blackburn and his chums jumping up and down for joy) but people shouldn’t simply focus on that.

The depressing thing about the speech linked above is not so much that it is still applicable today, but that people heard it, then shrugged their shoulders and went and voted for John Major anyway.

The man deserves much more respect than that.

The ali g thing might seem trivial, but it goes to show how much he stood and lived by his values, even when put on the spot by someone who deliberately went out to put him in a bewildering situation.

yes, exactly. everyone else um'd and ah'd and went along with it even though it was all obviously bollocks. TB pulled him up on that stuff. 'nuff respeck.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BirDIjQCAAAw44u.jpg

The depressing thing about the speech linked above is not so much that it is still applicable today, but that people heard it, then shrugged their shoulders and went and voted for John Major anyway.

It's electrifying until, as he often did, he strikes a note of optimism, re: people on the train. That's the depressing thing, from my perspective: that he loses me at that point. Which says more about me than him.

rip

twenty years since "the last summer" (©r. carmody) n'all...

RIP

Sad day.

inspirational but his status as a political outsider is a pretty depressing illustration of where people of principle actually stand in the grand scheme of things

― eardrum buzz aldrin (NickB), Friday, 14 March 2014 09:11 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i wonder if this is, quite, an accurate conclusion

RIP, though. who's left from the wilson years now, apart from shirley williams?

Healey and Owen are the only ones i can think of.

hypocritical hagiography

I hear this complaint a lot but if the alternative is "fuck him, he was wrong about everything, I'm glad he's dead" I'll take a little courteous hypocrisy thanks. And of course it's possible to genuinely respect someone's character and principle even if you loathed his politics.

I don’t think that’s what happening here; I suspect a “ding dong the witch is dead” subtext on the Right. Compare with what the reaction would be if, say, Johnson or Farage were transfixed by a spear of frozen waste from a passing aircraft.

I haven't detected much malice in the reaction to his death yet. The right doesn't need to go down that route when it can just paint him as an anachronism instead. He was patronised rather than disliked in his old age.

The hypocrisy is from the likes of Miliband, claiming him as an 'iconic figure', and Gordon Brown hailing his 'relentless fight for social justice' when neither has displayed any notable principles of their own to date.

I think both EMili and GB do have principles but leadership requires fudging them as much as possible - with Miliband there's also a generational factor. It was definitely to Benn's advantage in the long run that he failed to win the leadership and thus avoided the compromises of power. He was at his least appealing when he was actually in government. I'm sure he would have been more decent and upright than most even if he'd got to Number 10 but the enormous affection people feel for him is partly because he never did.

Prime Minister David Cameron: "There was never a dull moment listening to him, even when you disagreed with everything he said."

Tony Benn: "This is a nice cup of tea"
David Cameron: "I disagree"

There's obviously some truth in that but 'fudged principles' is a pretty charitable assessment. There's necessary compromise and there's selling out the core beliefs of your party. xp

I hear this complaint a lot but if the alternative is "fuck him, he was wrong about everything, I'm glad he's dead"

One alternative is people just keeping their mouth shut.

who's left from the wilson years now, apart from shirley williams?

Hattersley... Margaret Beckett!

RIP Tony, though I confess he never won me over

Yes I'm sure it would go down well if the entire Conservative Party just ignored Benn's death.

xp I absolutely think Benn was fundamentally more principled than Brown or Miliband but given how his career worked out you're not comparing like with like.

more a case of like with don't like

Benn: “This is a nice cup of tea.”
Cameron: “But is it a hard-working cup of tea? Does it earn back the investment we made in it? Does it stick to a long-term plan? Is it enterprising? Does this cup of tea shine?”
Benn: “Jeez, ah wish ah hadnae bothered...”

Cameron: “The fact that I have to wash the teacup after drinking indicates the horrendous mess left behind by the last Labour Government.”

Ed Miliband did work experience for Tony Benn, who was one of his dad's best friends.

my dad didn't have any friends is this why i am unimportant

feels like 1% of british teenagers do work experience w/ an mp, not sure who would sort out their post otherwise

man the (empty) commons video on thatcher's just so sad to watch. what a guy.

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