Tony Benn

[Filo]

RIP

Keep the Red Flag Flying High!

[LongbridgeMGRover]

A great bloke and a great character.
Yes he was from a priveledged background, but here was someone who said what he believed and tried to convince others, rather than analyse the results of a focus group and play back what people want to hear.


To me the only person quite like him was Alan Clarke the tory whi said what he wanted to say which was not always expected!

Sadly politics becomes that little bit duller as each real character passes on.

[IC1967]

I had a lot of time for Tony even though he was from the ultra hard left. He was a genuine politician, a rare thing these days. BST has lost one of his heroes today and my thoughts are with him.

[Boomstick]

Teehee.
But seriously, Benn was very respectable. Which is a rarety in the Labour Party

[rossorog]

Tony Benn was the best left winger we ever had. Will be sorely missed. RIP

[Iberian Red]

A true great.

[donnyproletarian]

A true socialist and christian who put the church and labour party hierarchy to shame

[wilts rover]

I heard him speak many times and meet him on a couple of occasions and he was a really nice, genuine and honest man who believed passionately in his view of the world. It will be much sadder without him.

[BillyStubbsTears]

A principled man sure. But a disaster for the working class.

Benn and the Gang of Four were directly responsible for tearing the Labourt party apart at the seams in the early 80s, and giving Maggie huge majorities of seats when she never won particularly large votes in general elections.

Benn put his own vision of where the Labour Party should go above concepts like party unity. Owen, Jenkins and Williams did the same thing from the right wing. Between them, they are directly to blame for allowing an indulgent, purist approach to trump the need for dirty deals and compromises. If Labour had retained some unity in 80-82, Thatcher would quite likely have been out in 1983. Tony Benn was as much to blame for her success as anyone.

In principle he was on the side of the working man. In practice, he was a disaster for the working man. I'll mourn the passing of a man of fine principle but I wish he had never got remotely close to the top of the Labour Party.

[IC1967]

Well said Billy. You do surprise me. He was a nice man but got caught up in the cult of personality too much and failed to see the wood for the trees. Harold Wilson got it right when he said he immatured with age.