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Tony Benn has passed away


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An iconic man, one who transcended the Houses of Parliament and puts virtually all of them to shame today. His diaries and accounts of his every day life details the legacy of someone who shall be remembered for his pursuit of individual rights and a fair society.

 

On a lighter note, here is his response to a Sacha Baron Coen letter:

 

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Heard the news as I drove into work this morning, and the world got a little bit darker. A man of integrity and genuine intellect who never forgot he served the many, not the few. When you see the dross that makes up the majority of Parliament the loss becomes so much greater.

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Paddy Shennan: Tony Benn was a man who loved Liverpool with a passion
 

Iconic socialist, campaigner and parliamentarian admitted he would have loved to have represented Liverpool

 

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Tony Benn

 

The Liverpool ECHO once received a letter from a reader which said: “The only person who consistently speaks up for Liverpool is a 72-year-old man from Chesterfield.”  He was referring to the then 72-year-old MP for Chesterfield – Tony Benn.  A little later, when I was privileged enough to have an audience with the great Socialist, campaigner and parliamentarian in the basement office of his home in Notting Hill’s Holland Park Avenue, he told me: “Oh, I would have loved to have represented Liverpool!”

 

Ours is a city he possibly visited for meetings and rallies more than any other. And it was one which left an indelible mark: “I just love the place,” he said.  “I feel very happy in Liverpool. There’s a real commitment among its people – and also a great sense of humour and a smashing irreverence. I also get a lot of letters from Liverpool and they are always very shrewd, perceptive and down-to-earth.”

 

The former Cabinet minister – and two-time candidate for the leadership and deputy leadership of the Labour Party – had previously blasted the Government and transport union leaders for “letting down” the sacked Liverpool dockers.  He praised their “brilliant” 850-day campaign for re-instatement and said the dispute would be remembered in the same way as the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the miners’ strike of 1984/85.  And he added: “I was really sad about the dockers. They were let down and that, I’m afraid, is the story of our history. You are let down at the top and have to build things up from the bottom. Like a lot of fights, you may not win immediately – but the dockers have built something of permament importance there.”

 

He also felt great sympathy for the Hillsborough families and during this interview, back in 1998, said: “There’s a tremendous sense of disappointment because one of the things that has never been settled is what happened after 3.15pm. I don’t know why the (then Labour) Government hasn’t pursued it.”  But he knew the families would keep on fighting for justice, because he knew their background and he knew Liverpool: “It’s a city which is never demoralised – and that is what makes it different.”

 

Four years later, ahead of yet another of his many visits here, he told me: “I don’t think I’ve ever refused an invitation to come to Liverpool because I’m so fond of the place. It’s the most political city I know. It has such a lot of character and such interesting people. It’s very, very thoughtful and there’s a lot of argument – and that’s because people think so much there. They are great talkers in Liverpool and I’m a bit of a talker myself, so I appreciate that!”

 

In the political world, Tony Benn was cast as a devil by some and a Messiah by others – possibly even by the same people, at different times. Though, in 2002, he said: “I haven’t really changed and I have tried to be consistent. I spoke out in Trafalgar Square when Nelson Mandela was put in prison, I supported having a Scottish Parliament, Freedom of Information, gay rights and talking to all the politicians in Northern Ireland – at a time when you were denounced as a terrorist if you mentioned Gerry Adams’ name.  “As recently as 1996, I was threatened with expulsion from the Labour Party for meeting Gerry Adams – now I can’t get to see him because he’s in and out of Number 10!"  “I actually think public opinion has shifted. The public is to the left of New Labour, which I know isn’t a difficult thing. People don’t want the railways privatised or private companies running our schools and hospitals.” 

 

Regrets? He had a few. And not too few to mention: “I have made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “I was wrong, for example, about nuclear power. I thought it was cheap and safe and peaceful when it was actually very expensive, dangerous and all about the bomb.  “The only thing I would be ashamed of, though, would be if I thought I’d ever said anything or done anything just to get on. The reality is that, like my grandfather and my father, I grow more left-wing as I grow older – it must be something in our genes.”

 

 During another ECHO interview, this time with my then ECHO colleague Tony Barrett in 2006, Mr Benn said: “I was once looking for my hotel in Liverpool but for the life of me I could not find the place. So I asked a fellow who was walking along the road for directions and without a moment’s hesitation he said: ‘Don't worry, I’ll show you where it is’.  “He took me all the way there and on the way he gave me the most wonderful lecture about Rosa Luxemburg and I just thought to myself, where else in the world would this happen, that a man out of the goodness of his own heart would give up his own time to guide a complete stranger somewhere well out of their own way and talk about nothing but the life and times of a German socialist?  "Liverpool is a truly wonderful city. It is the most articulate and politically aware city in the country and I love it.”

 

The next year I wrote to Mr Benn asking if he would kindly send Liverpool a message for its 800th birthday and his typically warm – and speedy – reply read: “In all my political life I have always been impressed by the solidarity, imagination and kindness of the people of Liverpool, which have inspired everyone who has come to know and love the city as I do. It gives me great pleasure to send birthday greetings to the city on the 800th birthday. Long may it prosper.”

 

In his post-Parliamentary life, Tony Benn wanted to use his experience to give people confidence – and said he would like his gravestone to read “Tony Benn: He encouraged us.”  He added: “Old men who grumble, talk about the past all the time and want to run things are a bore, but old men who are there to encourage you – you can’t have too many of them.”  There was only one Tony Benn – and that was nowhere near enough.

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Ah got you, sorry bud. I'm a daft twat.

 

Been emotional all day to be honest so thought I'd go full tart.

 

Apologies to all.

I got a bit upset myself reading that, not just for him but also for what he represented, and what we've now lost.

 

Thanks for posting it. Rep will be bestowed later.

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