Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn, originally known as Anthony Wedgwood Benn or Wedgie Benn, but later as Tony Benn, was a British politician who was a Member of Parliamentfor 47 years between the 1950 and 2001 general elections and a Cabinet minister in the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 1970s. Originally a "moderate", he was identified as being on the party's hard left from the early 1980s, and was widely seen as a key...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth3 April 1925
favour life means
At the end of my life, I was told to vote for it for pensioners; I' m not in favour of means tests for pensioners or anybody.
record recorded
I can't go to bed if I haven't done my diary. I always record them just as I've always recorded all my interviews and speeches.
business devote family giving parliament people spend time wife
Normally, people give up parliament because they want to do more business or spend more time with family. My wife said 'why don't you say you're giving up to devote more time to politics?'. And it is what I have done.
diaries diary million tiring
The uncut diaries are 16 million words. It's very tiring to do your diary every night before you go to bed.
absolute bug consent express home less personally protection signed telephone written
It is an absolute disgrace. You can't bug anyone's telephone without a warrant, which is express written consent personally signed by the Home Secretary. Why should you have less protection over the Internet?
bristol cause equality justice
championed the cause of equality and justice in Bristol
encouragement league people
Encouragement is the most important thing in the world for young people, rather than league tables, which demoralise everyone.
ideas church use
There is good and bad in all of us and the Church uses the idea of original sin to control us by saying that, if we do not obey the bishops, we will rot in Hell.
party thinking years
I've been a member of the Labour Party sixty five years, and I remain in it, but I think it's all about campaigning for justice and peace, and if you do that, you get a lot of support.
appreciate people age
The exhaustion of old age is something people who are younger don't fully appreciate.
teacher men thinking
I see myself as an old man and an unqualified teacher to the nation. I think being a teacher is probably the most important thing you can be in politics.
children thinking people
I've got four lovely children, ten lovely grandchildren, and I left parliament to devote more time to politics, and I think that what is really going on in Britain is a growing sense of alienation. People don't feel anyone listens to them.
believe people moments
I believe the more difficult the circumstances, the more people will be inclined to trust those in charge at the moment.
lonely morning children
Someone comes every morning at nine o'clock to see if I am still alive. I do get lonely, yes, but I have the children who come and see me. I see all my children every week, and there are the grandchildren, too.