Tony Benn

The Right Honourable
 Tony Benn

President of Stop the War Coalition
Incumbent
Assumed office 
21 September 2001
Vice President Lindsey German
Preceded by Office created
Secretary of State for Energy
In office
10 June 1975 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
James Callaghan
Preceded by Eric Varley
Succeeded by David Howell
Secretary of State for Industry
In office
5 March 1974 – 10 June 1975
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Preceded by Peter Walker (at DTI)
Succeeded by Eric Varley
Chairman of the Labour Party
In office
20 September 1971 – 25 September 1972
Leader Harold Wilson
Preceded by Ian Mikardo
Succeeded by William Simpson
Minister of State for Technology
In office
4 July 1966 – 19 June 1970
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Preceded by Frank Cousins
Succeeded by Geoffrey Rippon
Postmaster General
In office
15 October 1964 – 4 July 1966
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Preceded by Reginald Bevins
Succeeded by Edward Short
Member of Parliament
for Chesterfield
In office
1 March 1984 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by Eric Varley
Succeeded by Paul Holmes
Majority 24,633 (46.5%)
Member of Parliament
for Bristol South East
In office
20 August 1963 – 9 June 1983
Preceded by Malcolm St Clair
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Majority 1,890 (3.5%)
In office
30 November 1950 – 17 November 1960
Preceded by Stafford Cripps
Succeeded by Malcolm St Clair
Majority 13,044 (39%)
Born 3 April 1925 (1925-04-03) (age 85)
Marylebone, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Caroline DeCamp
(1949–2000)
Alma mater New College, Oxford
Religion United Reformed Church
Website Official website

Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (born 3 April 1925), formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British Labour Party politician, former Cabinet Minister and the current President of the Stop the War Coalition.

With his successful campaign to renounce his inherited title, a landmark case in British politics, Benn was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963. Later, in the Labour Government of 1964–1970 under Harold Wilson, he served first as Postmaster General, where he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, and later as a notably 'technocratic' Minister of Technology and Cabinet-member. In the period when the Labour Party were in opposition, Benn served for a year as the Chairman of the Labour Party. In the Labour Government of 1974–1979, he returned to the Cabinet, initially serving as Secretary of State for Industry, before being made Secretary of State for Energy, retaining his post when James Callaghan replaced Wilson as Prime Minister. During the Labour Party's time in opposition during the 1980s, he was seen as the party's prominent figure on the Left, and the term "Bennite" (a term never actually used by Benn himself) has come to be used in Britain for someone of a more radical, left-wing position.[1] According to the historian Alwyn W. Turner, Benn had "emerged during the 1970s as the most persuasive and charismatic leader of the left for two decades, charming, funny and impassioned, as adept in the television studio as he was at mass rallies."[2]

Tony Benn, second only to John Parker as Labour's longest serving Member of Parliament, has come top in several polls as one of the most popular politicians in the UK.[3] He has been described as "one of the few UK politicians to have become more left-wing after holding ministerial office."[4] Since leaving parliament, Benn has also become more interested in the grass-roots politics of demonstrations and meetings, and less in parliamentary activities. He has been a vegetarian since the 1970s.

Contents

Biography

Early life and family

Tony Benn was born in London on 3 April 1925.[5] Benn's paternal grandfather was Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet, and his father, William Wedgwood Benn, was a Liberal Member of Parliament who later crossed the floor to the Labour Party. He was appointed Secretary of State for India by Ramsay MacDonald in 1929, a position he held until 1931. He would later be elevated to the House of Lords, with the title of 1st Viscount Stansgate in 1941; the new wartime coalition government was short of working Labour peers in the upper house.[6] From 1945 to 1946, he was the Secretary of State for Air in the first ever majority Labour Government.

Both his grandfathers, Sir John Benn (who founded the family publishing house)[7] and Daniel Holmes, were also Liberal MPs (respectively, for Tower Hamlets, Devonport and Glasgow Govan).[8] Benn's contact with leading people of the day thus dates back to his earliest years as a result of his family's profile; he met Ramsay MacDonald when he was five,[9] David Lloyd George when he was twelve and Mahatma Gandhi in 1931, while his father was Secretary of State for India.

His mother Margaret Eadie (née Holmes) (1897–1991), was a dedicated theologian, feminist and the founder President of the Congregational Federation. She was a member of the League of the Church Militant, which was the predecessor of the Movement for the Ordination of Women - in 1925 she was rebuked by Randall Thomas Davidson, then-Archbishop of Canterbury, for advocating the ordination of women. His mother's theology had a profound influence on Benn, as she taught him that the stories in the Bible were based around the struggle between the prophets and the kings, and that he ought in his life to support the prophets over the kings, who had power, as the prophets taught righteousness.[10]

He was a pupil at Westminster School and later studied at New College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and during which time he was elected as President of the Oxford Union. In later life, Benn attempted to remove public references to his private education from Who's Who; in the 1975 edition his entry stated "Education—still in progress". In the 1976 edition, almost all details of his biography were omitted save for his name, jobs as a Member of Parliament and as a Government Minister, and address; the publishers confirmed that Benn had sent back his draft entry with everything else struck through.[11] In the 1977 edition, Benn's entry disappeared entirely.[12] In October 1973 he announced on BBC Radio that he wished to be known as "Mr Tony Benn" and his book Speeches from 1974 is credited to 'Tony Benn'.

Benn met US-born Caroline Middleton DeCamp (born 13 October 1926, from Cincinnati, Ohio) over tea at Worcester College in 1949 and nine days later he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from Oxford City Council and installed it in the garden of their home in Holland Park. Tony and Caroline had four children - Stephen, Hilary, Melissa and Joshua, and ten grandchildren. Caroline Benn died of cancer on 22 November 2000, aged 74, after a career as a prominent educationalist.[13]

In July 1943, Benn joined the Royal Air Force.[14] His father and brother Michael (who was later killed in an accident) were already serving in the RAF in 1943. Whilst holding the rank of pilot officer, Tony Benn served as a pilot in South Africa and Rhodesia.[15]

His children have also been active in politics; his first son Stephen served as an elected Member of the Inner London Education Authority from 1986 to 1990. His second son Hilary served as a councillor in London, and stood for Parliament in 1983 and 1987, finally becoming the Labour MP for Leeds Central in 1999. He served as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007, and then as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs until 2010. This makes him the third generation of his family to have sat in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, a rare distinction for a modern political family in Britain. Benn's granddaughter Emily fought and ultimately lost the seat of East Worthing and Shoreham in 2010[16], becoming the Labour Party's youngest ever candidate in the process.[17] Tony Benn is a first cousin once removed of the late actress Dame Margaret Rutherford.[18]

Member of Parliament

Following his Second World War service as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, Benn worked briefly as a BBC Radio producer. He was unexpectedly selected to succeed Sir Stafford Cripps as the Labour candidate for Bristol South East, after Cripps stood down due to ill-health, and won the seat in a by-election on 30 November 1950.[19] Anthony Crosland helped him get the seat as he was the MP for nearby South Gloucestershire at the time. Upon taking the oath on 4 December 1950 [20] Benn became the youngest MP, or "Baby of the House" for one day, being succeeded by Thomas Teevan, who was two years younger but took his oath a day later.[21] He became the "Baby" again in 1951, when Teevan was not re-elected. In the 1950s, Benn held middle-of-the-road or soft left views, and was not associated with the young left wing group around Aneurin Bevan.[22]

Peerage reform

Benn's father had been created Viscount Stansgate in 1942 when Winston Churchill increased the number of Labour peers to aid political work in the House of Lords; at this time, Benn's elder brother Michael was intending to enter the priesthood, and had no objections to inheriting a peerage. However, Michael was later killed in an accident while on active service in the Second World War, and this left Tony Benn as the presumptive heir to the peerage. He made several attempts to renounce the succession, but they were unsuccessful.[22]

In November 1960, Viscount Stansgate died, and as a result Benn automatically became a peer and was thus prevented from sitting in the House of Commons. Still insisting on his right to abandon his unwelcome peerage, Benn fought to retain his seat in a by-election caused by his succession on 4 May 1961. Although he was disqualified from taking his seat, the voters of Bristol South-East re-elected him regardless. An election court found that the voters were fully aware that Benn was disqualified, and declared the seat won by the Conservative runner-up, Malcolm St Clair, who was at the time also the heir presumptive to a peerage.[23]

Outside Parliament, Benn continued his campaign, and eventually the Conservative Government of the time accepted the need for a change in the law.[24] The Peerage Act 1963, allowing renunciation of peerages, was given the Royal Assent and became law shortly after 6 pm on 31 July 1963. Benn was the first peer to renounce his title, at 6.22 pm that day. Mr. St. Clair, fulfilling a promise he had made at the time of his seating, then accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead, thereby disqualifying himself from the House (outright resignation is not possible). Benn returned to the Commons after winning a by-election on 20 August 1963.[22]

In Government (1964–1970)

In the 1964 Government of Harold Wilson, Benn was appointed Postmaster General; during his time in that position, he oversaw the opening of what was then the UK's tallest building, the Post Office Tower, and the creations of the Postal Bus Service and Girobank. He proposed issuing stamps without the Sovereign's head, but this met with private opposition from the Queen. Instead, the portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on commemorative stamps today.[25] Benn also led the government's campaign to close down the many off-shore pirate radio stations of the time, a campaign that forms the centrepiece of the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, and was responsible for introducing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill.[26] By the time the bill became law in 1967, Benn had been promoted to the post of Minister of Technology, which included specific responsibility for overseeing the development of Concorde and the formation of International Computers Ltd.. The period also saw government involvement in industrial rationalisation, and the merger of several car companies to form British Leyland. [27] Labour lost the 1970 election to Edward Heath's Conservatives, and upon Heath's application to join the European Economic Community, Benn campaigned in favour of a referendum on the UK's membership. The Shadow Cabinet voted to support a referendum on 29 March 1972, and as a result Roy Jenkins resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

In Government (1974–1979)

In the Labour Government of 1974, Benn was appointed Secretary of State for Industry, where he set up worker cooperatives in struggling industries, the best known being at Meriden, which kept Triumph Motorcycles in production until 1983. In 1975, he was appointed Secretary of State for Energy, immediately following his ultimately unsuccessful campaign for a "No" vote in the referendum on the UK's membership of the EEC. By his own admission in his diary (25 October 1977), Benn "loathed" the EEC; he claimed it was "bureaucratic and centralised" and "of course it is really dominated by Germany. All the Common Market countries except the UK have been occupied by Germany, and they have this mixed feeling of hatred and subservience towards the Germans".[28]

Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister in 1976. Benn entered the subsequent leadership contest and came fourth with 37 votes in the first ballot. Benn then withdrew from the second ballot and supported Michael Foot for the leadership, although James Callaghan eventually won. Despite not receiving his support in the vote, Callaghan kept Benn as Energy Secretary. Late in the 1970s, there was a sterling crisis, and then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey sought to gain a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Benn publicly circulated the Cabinet minutes from the 1931 National Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald, which cut unemployment benefits in order to secure a loan from American bankers and resulted in the inadvertent splitting of the Labour Party. Callaghan allowed Benn to put forward his "alternative economic strategy", which consisted of a siege economy. However this plan would later be rejected by the Cabinet.[29]

The move to the Left

By the end of the 1970s, Benn had migrated to the left-wing of the Labour Party. He attributed this political shift to his experience as a Cabinet Minister in the 1964–1970 Labour Government. Benn wrote:

As a minister, I experienced the power of industrialists and bankers to get their way by use of the crudest form of economic pressure, even blackmail, against a Labour Government. Compared to this, the pressure brought to bear in industrial disputes is minuscule. This power was revealed even more clearly in 1976 when the IMF secured cuts in our public expenditure. These lessons led me to the conclusion that the UK is only superficially governed by MPs and the voters who elect them. Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is, and some new Chartist agitation might be born and might quickly gather momentum.[30]

Benn's philosophy became known as "Bennism", which consisted of a form of syndicalism, economic planning, greater democracy in the structures of the Labour Party and observance of Party conference decisions by the Party leadership;[31] he was vilified in the right-wing press, and his enemies implied that a Benn-led Labour Government would implement a type of East European socialism.[32] Conversely, Benn was overwhelmingly popular with Labour activists. A survey of delegates at the Labour Conference of 1978 found that by large margins they supported both Benn for the leadership and many Bennite policies.[33]

He publicly supported Sinn Féin and the unification of Ireland, although he has recently suggested to Sinn Féin leaders that Sinn Féin abandon its long-standing policy of not taking seats at Westminster. Sinn Féin argue that to do so would recognise Britain's claim over Northern Ireland, and the Sinn Féin constitution prevents its elected members from taking their seats in any British-created institution.[34]

In Opposition

In a keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference of 1980, Benn outlined what he envisaged the next Labour Government would do. "Within days", a Labour Government would grant powers to nationalise industries, control capital and implement industrial democracy; "within weeks", all powers from Brussels would be returned to Westminster and then they would abolish the House of Lords by creating one thousand peers and then abolishing the peerage. Benn received tumultuous applause from the audience.[35]

Tony Benn speaking at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008

In 1981, he stood for election against the incumbent Denis Healey for the post of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, disregarding the appeal from Michael Foot either to stand for the leadership, or to abstain from inflaming the party's divisions. Benn defended his decision with insistence that it was "not about personalities, but about policies." The contest was extremely closely fought in the summer of 1981, and Healey eventually won by a margin of barely 1%. The decision of several moderate left-wing MPs, including Neil Kinnock, to abstain from supporting Benn triggered the split of the Campaign Group from the Left of the Tribune Group.[36]

After Argentina had invaded the Falkland Islands in April 1982, Benn argued that the dispute should be settled by the United Nations and that the British Government should not send a task force to recapture the islands. The task force was sent and the Falklands was soon back in British control. In a subsequent debate in the Commons, Benn's demand for "a full analysis of the costs in life, equipment and money in this tragic and unnecessary war" was rejected by Margaret Thatcher, who stated that "he would not enjoy the freedom of speech that he put to such excellent use unless people had been prepared to fight for it".[37]

In 1983, Benn's Bristol South East constituency was abolished by boundary changes, and he subsequently lost the battle to stand in the new seat of Bristol South to Michael Cocks. Rejecting offers from the new seat of Livingston in Scotland, Benn contested Bristol East, losing to Conservative candidate Jonathan Sayeed in what was perceived to be a shock result. He was selected for the next Labour seat to fall vacant, and was elected as MP for Chesterfield in a by-election after Eric Varley resigned his seat to head Coalite. On the day of the by-election, 1 March 1984, The Sun newspaper ran a hostile feature article "Benn on the Couch" which purported to be the opinions of an American psychiatrist.[38] In the intervening period, since Benn's defeat in Bristol, another leadership election took place, which Neil Kinnock won.[39]

Benn was a prominent supporter of the 1984-1985 UK miners' strike and of his long-standing friend, the National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill. Some miners, however, considered Benn's 1977 industry reforms to have caused problems during the strike; firstly, that they led to huge wage differences and distrust between miners of different regions; and secondly, that the controversy over balloting miners for these reforms made it unclear as to whether a ballot was needed for a strike or whether it could be deemed as a "regional matter" in the same way that the 1977 reforms had been.[40][41]

In June 1985, Benn introduced the Miners' Amnesty (General Pardon) Bill in the Commons which would have extended an amnesty to all miners imprisoned during the strike. This would have included two men convicted of murder (later reduced to manslaughter) for the Killing of David Wilkie, a taxi driver driving a non-striking miner to work in South Wales during the strike.[42]

Benn later stood for election as Party Leader in 1988, following Labour's third successive defeat in the 1987 general election, and lost again, on this occasion by a substantial margin.[43] During the Gulf War, he was active in the anti-war movement and visited Baghdad to persuade Saddam Hussein to release the hostages who had been captured.[44] He was also one of the very few MPs to oppose the Kosovo War. In 1991, he proposed the Commonwealth of Britain Bill, which involved abolishing the British Monarchy in favour of the United Kingdom becoming a "democratic, federal and secular commonwealth"; in effect, a republic with a written constitution. It was read in Parliament a number of times until his retirement at the 2001 election, but never achieved a second reading.[45] He presented an account of his proposal in Common Sense: A New Constitution for Britain.[46]

Retirement

Tony Benn about to join the March 2005 anti-war demonstration in London

In 2001, Benn retired from Parliament, to "spend more time involved in politics". Along with Edward Heath, Benn was given the privilege of being able to continue using the House of Commons Library and Members' refreshment facilities by the Speaker. Shortly after his retirement, he was approached by the Stop the War Coalition, and was asked to become its President, an offer he accepted.[44] He thus became a leading figure of the British opposition to the War on Iraq, and in February 2003 he travelled to Baghdad to again meet, and interview, Saddam Hussein. The interview was shown on British television.[47] He also spoke out against the Iraq war at the February 2003 protest in London organised by the Stop the War Coalition, attended by over 1 million people.[48] In February 2004 and 2008, he was re-elected as President of the Stop the War Coalition.[49]

He has toured with a one-man stage show, and also appears a few times each year in a two-man show with folk singer Roy Bailey. In 2003, his show with Bailey was voted 'Best Live Act' at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[50] In 2002 he opened the "Left Field" stage at the Glastonbury Festival. In October 2003, Benn was a guest of British Airways on the last-ever scheduled Concorde flight from New York to London.[51] In June 2005, Benn was a panellist on a special edition of BBC1's Question Time (shown 30 June 2005). The special edition was edited entirely by a school age film crew selected by a BBC competition.[52]

On 21 June 2005, Benn presented a programme on democracy as part of the Channel 5 series Big Ideas That Changed The World, he presented a left-wing view of democracy as the means to pass power from the "wallet to the ballot". He argued that traditional social democratic values were under threat in an increasingly globalised world in which powerful institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Commission remain unelected and unaccountable to those whose lives they affect daily.[53]

Tony Benn and Giles Fraser speaking at Levellers’ Day, Burford, 17 May 2008.

On 27 September 2005, Benn was taken ill at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton and taken by ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital after being treated by paramedics at the Brighton Centre. Benn reportedly fell and struck his head. He was to be kept in hospital for observation, but was described as being in a "comfortable condition".[54] He was subsequently fitted with an artificial pacemaker to help regulate his heartbeat.[55] In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman in 2006, he was voted twelfth in the list of "Heroes of our Time".[56]

In September 2006, Benn joined the "Time to Go" Demonstration in Manchester the day before the start of the final Labour Conference with Tony Blair as Party Leader, with the aim of persuading the Labour Government to withdraw troops from Iraq, to refrain from attacking Iran and to reject replacing the Trident missile and submarines with a new system. He spoke to the demonstrators in the rally afterwards along with other politicians and journalists, including George Galloway and members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.[57] In 2007, he appeared in an extended segment in the Michael Moore film Sicko giving comments about democracy, social responsibility, and health care.

A poll by the BBC2 The Daily Politics programme in January 2007 selected Benn as the UK's "Political Hero" with 38.22% of the vote, beating Margaret Thatcher with 35.3% and five other contenders including Alex Salmond, Leader of the Scottish National Party; Clare Short, Independent MP; Neil Kinnock, previous Labour Party Leader; Norman Tebbit, previous Conservative Party Chairman and Shirley Williams, one of the 'gang of four' who founded the Social Democratic Party .[3]

In the 2007 Labour Party leadership election, Tony Benn backed the left-wing MP John McDonnell in his ultimately unsuccessful bid. In September 2007, Benn called for the government to hold a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty.[58] In October 2007, at the age of 82, and when it appeared that a general election was about to be held, Benn reportedly announced that he wanted to stand, having written to his local Kensington and Chelsea Constituency Labour Party offering himself as a prospective candidate for the seat held by the Conservative Malcolm Rifkind.[59][60] No election, however, was ultimately held in 2007, and the Kensington and Chelsea seat was abolished.

Benn on the cover of Dartford Living, Sept 2009

In September 2008, Benn appeared on the DVD release for the Doctor Who story The War Machines with a vignette discussing the Post Office Tower; he became the second Labour politician, after Roy Hattersley to appear in a feature on a Doctor Who DVD.[61] Also in 2008, Benn appeared on track 12 "Pay Attention to the Human" on Colin MacIntyre's The Water album.[62]

At the Stop the War Conference 2009, he described the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as "Imperialist war(s)" and discussed the killing of American and allied troops by Iraqi or foreign insurgents, questioning whether they were in fact freedom fighters, and comparing the insurgents to a British Dad's Army, saying "If you are invaded you have a right to self defence, and this idea that people in Iraq and Afghanistan who are resisting the invasion are militant Muslim extremists is a complete bloody lie. I joined Dad's Army when I was sixteen, and if the Germans had arrived, I tell you, I could use a bayonet, a rifle, a revolver, and if I'd seen a German officer having a meal I'd have tossed a grenade through the window. Would I have been a freedom fighter or a terrorist?"[63]

In an interview published in Dartford Living in September 2009, Benn was critical of the Government's decision to delay the findings of the Iraq War Inquiry until after the General Election, stating that "people can take into account what the inquiry has reported on but they’ve deliberately pushed it beyond the election. Government is responsible for explaining what it has done and I don’t think we were told the truth."[64] He also stated that local government was strangled by Margaret Thatcher and hadn't been liberalised by New Labour.[64]

During the autumn of 2009, Tony Benn was again admitted into hospital and as a result of this, "An Evening with Tony Benn", scheduled to take place at London's Cadogan Hall was cancelled. He resumed a tour of these shows during 2010.

Tony Benn announced that he would be backing Ed Miliband in the 2010 Labour Party leadership election, and was later cited by Miliband's campaign as a "prominent backer".[65]

Diaries and biographies

Tony Benn is a prolific diarist: eight volumes of his diaries have been published (the first six collected as ISBN 0-09-963411-2, the penultimate available as ISBN 0-09-941502-X). Collections of his speeches and writings were published as Arguments for Socialism (1979), Arguments for Democracy (1981), (both edited by Chris Mullin), Fighting Back (1988) and (with Andrew Hood) Common Sense (1993), as well as Free Radical: New Century Essays (2004). In August 2003, London DJ Charles Bailey created an album of Benn's speeches (ISBN 1-904734-03-0) set to ambient groove.

He has also made public several episodes of audio diaries he made during his time in Parliament and after retirement, entitled 'The Benn Tapes', broadcast originally on BBC Radio 4. Short series of these have been played periodically on BBC Radio 7.[66] A major biography was written by Jad Adams and published by Macmillan in 1992. Tony Benn: A Biography (ISBN 0-333-52558-2) A more recent 'semi-authorised' biography, with a foreword by Benn, was published in 2001: David Powell, Tony Benn: A Political Life, Continuum Books (ISBN 978-0826464156). An autobiography, Dare to be a Daniel: Then and Now, Hutchinson (ISBN 978-0099471530), was published in 2004.

There are substantial essays on Tony Benn in both the Dictionary of Labour Biography by Phillip Whitehead, Greg Rosen [ed], Politicos Publishing, 2001 (ISBN 978-1902301181) and in Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown, Kevin Jefferys [ed], I. B. Taurus Publishing, 2002 (ISBN 978-1860647437). Michael Moore dedicates his book Mike's Election Guide 2008 (ISBN 978-0141039817) to Tony Benn with: "For Tony Benn, keep teaching us".[67]

Aphorisms

See also

References

  1. ↑ Renton, Dave (February 1997). "Does Labour's Left Have an Alternative?". Socialist Review. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr205/labour.htm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  2. ↑ Turner, Alwyn W. (2010). Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s. London: Aurum Press. Page 28.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Magnificent Seven political heroes...". BBC News (BBC). 12 December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6161847.stm. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
  4. ↑ "Collection - The Rt Hon Tony Benn MP -". Art in Parliament. UK Parliament. http://art.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/andrew-tift/the-rt-hon-tony-benn-mp/4761/. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Tony Benn - Official Website". tonybenn.com. http://www.tonybenn.com/Biography.html. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  6. ↑ Hale, Leslie (January 2008). "Benn, William Wedgwood" (Subscription required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30705?docPos=2. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  7. ↑ Brodie, Marc (January 2008). "Benn, Sir John Williams" (Subscription required). Oxford National Dictionary of Biography Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58236/?back=,30705. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  8. ↑ Stearn, Roger T (2004). "Benn, Margaret Eadie Wedgwood" (Subscription required). Oxford National Dictionary of Biography Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50714/?back=,30705. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  9. ↑ "Tony Benn: You Ask The Questions". The Independent (London: Independent News and Media). 19 August 2005. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tony-benn-you-ask-the-questions-503487.html. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  10. ↑ Benn, Tony (2003). Free Radical. Continuum. p. 226. ISBN 0-8264-6596-X. http://books.google.com/?id=UsYKitlTrdYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=tony+benn+free+radical&q. 
  11. ↑ "Mr Benn wipes away his past". The Times Diary (Times Newspapers). 18 March 1976. 
  12. ↑ "Not Out". The Times Diary (Times newspapers). 4 April 1977. 
  13. ↑ "Caroline Benn". Daily Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group). 24 November 2000. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  14. ↑ "Tony Benn". The Biography Channel. http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/455:0/1/Tony_Benn.htm. Retrieved 2 April 2007. 
  15. ↑ "William Wedgwood Benn". Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUbenn.htm. Retrieved 2 April 2007. 
  16. ↑ "Benn's granddaughter runs for MP". BBC News (BBC). 25 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011922.stm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  17. ↑ Skinitis, Alexia (10 January 10 2009). "Emily Benn the younger". Times Online (London: Times Newspapers). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5452741.ece. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  18. ↑ French, Philip (26 July 2009). "Philip French's screen legends: Margaret Rutherford". Guardian News and Media (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jul/26/screen-legends-margaret-rutherford. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  19. ↑ "The Benn dynasty". BBC News (BBC). 11 June 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/366619.stm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  20. ↑ "New Members Sworn". Hansard. House of Commons. 4 December 1950. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/04/new-members-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501204_HOC_256. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  21. ↑ "New Members Sworn". Hansard. House of Commons. 5 December 1950. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/05/new-member-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501205_HOC_264. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Profile: Tony Benn". BBC Bristol. BBC. 4 April 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/04/03/tony_benn_profile_feature.shtml. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  23. ↑ Re Parliamentary Election for Bristol South East [1964] 2 Q.B. 257, [1961] 3 W.L.R. 577
  24. ↑ "Disclaiming a peerage". BBC News (London: British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 July 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/82121.stm. Retrieved 7 June 2008. 
  25. ↑ "A Revolution in British Stamp Design". The British Postal Museum and Archive. http://postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/onlineexhibitions/gentleman-on-stamps/the-david-gentleman-album. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  26. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (27 March 2009). "All bands on deck: Director Richard Curtis and DJ Johnnie Walker on the making of The Boat That Rocked". The Guardian (London: Guardian News and Media). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/mar/27/boat-that-rocked-background. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  27. ↑ "UK Confidential Transcripts: Tony Benn - The Labour Minister". BBC News (BBC). 1 January 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/uk_confidential/1706972.stm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  28. ↑ Benn, Tony (1995). The Benn Diaries. Arrow. p. 432. ISBN 978-0099634119. 
  29. ↑ Powell, David (2003). Tony Benn: a political life (2 ed.). London & New York: Continuum. pp. 82, 84. ISBN 0-8264-7074-2. http://books.google.com/?id=dYeVIfy0by8C&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=alternative+economic+strategy+tony+benn&q=alternative%20economic%20strategy%20tony%20benn. 
  30. ↑ Benn, Tony (1988). Out of the Wilderness: Diaries 1963-7. Arrow. p. Introduction. ISBN 978-0099586708. 
  31. ↑ Kavanagh, Dennis (1990). "Tony Benn: Nuisance or Conscience?". In Kavanagh, Dennis. Politics and Personalities. Macmillan. p. 184. ISBN 978-0333515808. 
  32. ↑ Kavanagh, Dennis (1990). "Tony Benn: Nuisance or Conscience?". In Kavanagh, Dennis. Politics and Personalities. Macmillan. p. 178. ISBN 978-0333515808. 
  33. ↑ Whiteley, Ian (11 January 1980). "The Labour Party: Middle Class, Militant and Male". New Statesman: 41-42. 
  34. ↑ "Benn's call for SF to take seats". BBC News (BBC). 12 May 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/northern_ireland/4540343.stm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  35. ↑ Emery, Fred (30 September 1980). "Mr Benn proposes timetable of one month to abolish Lords and leave EEC" (Subscription required). The Times, archived by Gale Group (Times Newspapers). http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/27/443/107065937w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS17008446&dyn=12!xrn_20_0_CS17008446&hst_1?sw_aep=uwesteng. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  36. ↑ Taylor, Gary (February 2001). "Media Review: The Transformation Of Labour". Contemporary Review (findarticle.com): 2–4. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1621_278/ai_71712189/pg_2/?tag=content;col1. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  37. ↑ "House of Commons Statement: Falkland Islands". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. 15 June 1982. http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=104969. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
  38. ↑ "Benn on the couch". The Sun (News international). 1 March 1984. 
  39. ↑ "Labour's new line-up" (Subscription required). The Times, archived by Gale Group (Times Newspapers). 3 November 1983. http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/27/443/107065937w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS51350883&dyn=21!xrn_30_0_CS51350883&hst_1?sw_aep=uwesteng. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  40. ↑ "Chapter 06; ...1974 strike...a conversation with miners...Labour government... ...Benn helps divide miners...". libcom.org. http://libcom.org/library/chapter-06-1974-strikea-conversation-minerslabour-government-benn-helps-divide-miners. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  41. ↑ Robertson, Jack (23 April 2010). "25 years after the Great Miners’ Strike". International Socialism (London: Socialist Workers Party) (126). http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=640&issue=126. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  42. ↑ "Miners' Amnesty (General Pardon)". Hansard. House of Commons. 28 June 1985. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1985/jun/28/miners-amnesty-general-pardon. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  43. ↑ Durkin, Mary. "Leadership Elections: Labour Party" (PDF). House of Commons Library. http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03938.pdf. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Stadlen, Nick (8 December 2006). "Brief Encounter: Tony Benn". The Guardian (London: Guardian News and Media). http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/dec/08/1. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  45. ↑ "Commonwealth of Britain Bill". Hansard. House of Commons. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/bills/commonwealth-of-britain-bill. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  46. ↑ Benn, Tony; Hood, Andrew (17 June 1993). Hood, Andrew. ed. Common Sense: New Constitution for Britain. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0091773083. 
  47. ↑ "Full text of Benn interview with Saddam date= 4 February 2003". BBC NEWS (BBC). 4 February 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2726831.stm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  48. ↑ "'Million' march against Iraq war". BBC NEWS (BBC). 16 February 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2765041.stm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  49. ↑ "Elected positions". Stop the War Coalition. http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/20/52/. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  50. ↑ "Roy Bailey – Promoters' Pack - Roy Bailey & Tony Benn". roybailey.net. http://www.roybailey.net/promotersPack/rbtb.php?PHPSESSID=50526581978a2d6f9d2fc747533000d8. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  51. ↑ "Concorde Aircraft Facts, Dates and History". flightlevel350.com. http://www.flightlevel350.com/Concorde_aircraft_facts.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  52. ↑ "Question Time : A question of citizenship". BBC News (BBC). 1 July 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/4642035.stm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  53. ↑ Wardle, Tony (Spring 2006). "The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr Benn". Viva!LIFE (Viva!) (31). http://www.viva.org.uk/celebs/tonybenn_interview.html. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  54. ↑ Staff (28 September 2005). "Tony Benn 'comfortable' in hospital after fall". Guardian News and Media (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/sep/28/labourconference.labour2. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  55. ↑ "Benn gets pacemaker after fall". BBC NEWS (BBC). 1 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4300306.stm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  56. ↑ Cowley, Jason (22 May 2006). "Heroes of our time - the top 50". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/200605220016. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
  57. ↑ "Thousands at city's anti-war demo". BBC News (BBC). 23 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5373128.stm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  58. ↑ "Give us EU referendum, says Benn". BBC News (BBC). 24 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011231.stm. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  59. ↑ "I want to be an MP again - Benn". BBC News (BBC). 4 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7028042.stm. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
  60. ↑ Attewill, Fred (4 October 2007). "Benn: I want to return to parliament". The Guardian (London: Guardian News and Media). http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2183661,00.html. Retrieved 5 October 2007. 
  61. ↑ Wilkins, Jonathan (21 August 2008). "Doctor Who: The War Machines Review". Total SciFi Online. http://totalscifionline.com/reviews/2386-doctor-who-the-war-machines. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  62. ↑ Sandall, Robert (7 February 2008). "Tony Benn, pop star". Telegraph Media Group (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3670995/Tony-Benn-pop-star.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  63. ↑ Jesse Oldershaw (camera); Andy Cousins (editor). (25 April 2009) (Adobe Flash). Tony Benn - Stop the War Conference 2009. [Streaming http]. Stop the War Coalition. Event occurs at 3:06. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og4K4yhQF8E. 
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Khairoun, Abdel (September 2009). "Big Benn Chimes in to Dartford" (PDF). Dartford Living. p. 10. http://www.dartfordadvertising.co.uk/uploaded_files/Dartford%20Living%20September%202009.pdf. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  65. ↑ http://www.labourlist.org/ed-milibands-plp-support---running-totals
  66. ↑ "BBC Radio 7 Programmes - The Benn Tapes". BBC. 16 March 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jr2r#synopsis. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  67. ↑ Goodman, Amy (1 November 2008). "Michael Moore on the Election, the Bailout, Healthcare, and 10 Proposals for the Next President by Michael Moore". Democracy Now!. ZCommunications. http://www.zcommunications.org/michael-moore-on-the-election-the-bailout-healthcare-and-10-proposals-for-the-next-president-by-michael-moore. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  68. ↑ "BBC reports on Tony Benn's latest invention...". The Age. http://theagepage.typepad.com/the_age_page/2008/08/bbc-reports-on.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  69. ↑ Nick Stadlen QC (7 December 2006). "Brief encounter: Tony Benn". London: Guardian Unlimited podcasts. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/podcasts/2006/12/brief_encounter_tony_benn.html. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 
  70. ↑ Gary Younge (20 July 2002). "The Stirrer". London: The Guardian. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,11660,757608,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-27. 
  71. ↑ "Learning English - Moving Words - Tony Benn". BBC World Service. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/movingwords/celebritychoice/tonybenn.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 
  72. ↑ (Adobe Flash) John Bolton vs Tony Benn. [Streaming http]. AIMTV. 30 July 2007. Event occurs at 4:36. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlbAxzp0cEE. 
  73. ↑ "Sicko Videos, Sicko Clips, and Sicko Quotes". Hollywood upclose.com. Hachette Filipacchi Media. http://hollywood.premiere.com/movie-Sicko. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  74. ↑ "Wikinews interviews: Tony Benn on U.K. politics". Wikinews. 12 August 2007. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews:_Tony_Benn_on_U.K._politics. 
  75. ↑ "Tony Benn on Israel". PressTV. http://www.presstv.com/Detail.aspx?id=82795&sectionid=3510302. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 

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