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
white would-be speech
Having served in eleven Parliaments, it would be difficult to describe this as a maiden speech. It would be like Elizabeth Taylor appearing at her next wedding in a white gown.
class leader establishment
Middle class Labour leaders are recaptured by the establishment when they die.
queens stamps obvious
It is obvious I shall have to abandon my hopes of getting the Queen's head off the stamps.
boards enough combination
The present combination of corporate or commercial control theoretically answerable to politically appointed Boards of Governors is not in any sense a democratic enough procedure to control the power the broadcasters have.
media essentials one-thing
The one thing that is absolutely essential is that there shouldn't be any governmental control [of the media] directly or indirectly.
house would-be more-time
If ever I left the House of Commons it would be because I wanted to spend more time on politics.
tabloids campaigns thanks
Thanks to the tabloid campaigns I have many death threats and I was very pleased to get another one the other day.
war failure diplomats
All war represents a failure of diplomacy.
president want constitution
I don't want to commit myself in advocating a definite republican constitution which will get bogged down with the question of who would elect the President and when.
years flags radicalism
The flag of radicalism which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over Dachau and Belsen
internet bigs scales
The Internet is only the street corner meeting on a big scale
jobs mps employers
An MP is the only job where you have 70,000 employers, and only one employee.
suffering today britain
Britain today is suffering from galloping obsolescence.
war thinking iraq
Undoubtedly the war with Iraq was a tragedy. I think it was also a crime.