Tony Benn has passed away

[xerxes]

A day to celebrate the life of a man who asked questions, and asked the right questions.

[stringvest]

A genuinely good man.

[the chimp]

My heart absolutely sank when I saw this thread title come up on the screen. I'm out of the loop a little in terms of keeping abreast of things back home and so I genuinely wasn't expecting this. A very, very sad day.

[stringvest]

He's been quite ill for some time. As his family have said, he has had a full and rich (in the truest sense) life.

[the chimp]

I was just thinking of that to be honest (his life and what he did with it). He tried, and made a difference for good. That's a life well lived by any measure.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Sad sad day.

[Kevin D]

He's gone, I can't get over it.

[Robbo29]

Never been a Labour supporter, but this is a sad day. He truly was a great man, if Labour had more people like him it would be a party to be reckoned with. One of the greatest men in british politics. We will never see the likes of again. RIP and thouights with his family

[nando1000]

Inspiring man 

[cochyn]

Love that Emily Davison plaque  - Thanks for putting that up NV.

 

Gutted reading this. Who's going to carry the flame now?

[Vincent Vega]

I've paid my tribute earlier when I started a thread at the same time as Stringy.

 

His passing reminded me of this classic clip, Baron-Cohen knew exactly how to get him going by calling strikers lazy.

 

[Dr Nowt]

I've paid my tribute earlier when I started a thread at the same time as Stringy.

 

His passing reminded me of this classic clip, Baron-Cohen knew exactly how to get him going by calling strikers lazy.

 

 

Tony Benn's own reflections on that video.  Only person I ever recall coming out of an interview with Ali G with his reputation enhanced:

 

How I tamed Ali G

 

When he was asked to appear on a TV show introducing politics to young people, Tony Benn jumped at the chance. The interviewer's name? Ali G. Now, as Staines' most famous son begins his own series, the legendary MP relives the experience

 

Tony Benn

 

The Guardian

 

When Channel 4 rang me last year to ask me to take part in a new television programme designed to introduce young people to politics, I agreed at once and greatly looked forward to it.

 

Since "New Labour" was elected, there has been a notable de-politicisation of young people, many of whom tend to think of the prime minister as if he were the well-liked manager of a successful United Kingdom football team, whom they admire as spectators without much sense of personal involvement.

 

Like many MPs, I visit a lot of schools and speak at student conferences; these sessions are always followed by questions which reveal the pernicious influence the tabloids have upon their political thinking.

 

When he arrived, Ali G was courteous and friendly as I welcomed him into my office and, in his first question, he asked me to explain socialism, which he seemed to believe was the same as the welfare state but went on to argue that all strikes were motivated by laziness, almost as if he was a leader-writer in the Sun. It was at this early point that I decided that the only respectful thing to do was to argue with him and to do so as vigorously as I could.

 

There was nothing else I could do since all the crudest prejudices poured out of him, not least his argument that all "bitches" just got pregnant to get on to benefit, and so on.

 

Although I found his questions deeply offensive, he was very polite to me personally, and I concluded that his views were based upon a deep ignorance - as when he claimed that Mrs Thatcher was a Communist. At the end, he turned to the camera and said "Tony Benn is my main man", and put out his hand in my direction in some greeting of good will, and left after I had told him how much I had enjoyed our talk.

 

At no stage during our talk did I suspect for a second that it was other than a genuine programme, and when the interview was broadcast and someone rang to tell me about it, I was very angry and wrote to the production company demanding a video, which I watched.

 

That should be the end of a simple story of an old man being completely fooled by a comedian in a hoax interview - but there was a sequel which showed it all in a very different light.

 

Lots of young people came up to me in the street, or wrote in to say how much they had enjoyed the programme and how glad they were that I had stood up to him.

 

I didn't know what they were talking about until one of my teenage grandsons bought the Ali G video at Christmas and we all sat down, as a family, to watch it.

 

It was, indeed, a hilarious series of interviews with a range of people who had no idea how to deal with Ali G's questions and were puzzled, confused and silent when pressed to explain some absurdity in their own opinions.

 

These responses were made possible by his feigned naivety, warm expressions of regard for whoever he was talking to, and an absurd emphasis addressed to the television audience of the importance of the person with whom he was talking.

 

For me the high points were when he asked the general whether he had ever thought of changing sides in the war, and respectfully inquired whether the head of the Orange Order would be ready to marry a Catholic girl "if she had a stereo".

 

All the interviews on the video were of the same general kind, and although they were extremely funny to watch, they all were genuinely educational in that anyone watching them would be bound to question their own prejudices and think about the real issues raised.  In fact, the programmes were exactly what Channel 4 had said they would be - a chance to present politics to young people.

 

Ali G is a very clever man, and I am beginning to wonder if that was what he actually intended to do. If so, perhaps he can help explain New Labour by interviewing the prime minister about the Third Way.

 

• Da Ali G Show, tomorrow, 10.30pm, Channel 4

[Bobby Hundreds]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ETqOvBKnKdk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Nothing changes.

[Jairzinho]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokTiJfL4WY

[stringvest]

Bang on Bobby.  It makes me ashamed to be from this country.  Makes me ashamed that there is such a paucity of spirit and visualisation of the big picture in this country that Tony's successor is nowhere to be seen.  The power brokers (including the mass media) look to have won.  Feeling a bit pathetic this morning.  

[VladimirIlyich]

If i were ever asked to name a person to whom i'd liked to have met and had a heartfelt discussion with,he would have been right up at the top of that list. An absolute champion of a human being and although i never ever met him it feels like the passing of friend.

A sad day.

Cant wait for his state funeral....oh wait.

[Section_31]

Bang on Bobby. It makes me ashamed to be from this country. Makes me ashamed that there is such a paucity of spirit and visualisation of the big picture in this country that Tony's successor is nowhere to be seen. The power brokers (including the mass media) look to have won. Feeling a bit pathetic this morning.

The mass media is the problem mate, that's the principal enemy now. The voices are there they just don't have the power or reach to impact the narrative.

[Bobby Hundreds]

How fucking bad is it when decency and a sense of justice are rarer than rocking horse shit in politics. His attributes that stand him out as a good person should be the norm instead there's a million tributes all highlighting his rare qualities. Its a cesspit.

[Elmyn Noos]

How about renaming the August Bank Holiday Tony Benn Day?

[torahboy]

I suspect that what Engels said at Marx's graveside could be said of Benn - ",,though he may have had many opponents,he had hardly one personal enemy".

 

From his renounced peerage to his lifelong commitment to socialist causes, Benn was the the sort of principled politician who shames the modern self-obsessed, opportunistic, megalomaniacal; dross that populates Parliament today. 

[lifetime fan]

He rocked a great beard.

[kopboy11]

Tony Benny MP Defines equality. Damien Dempsey,Almighty love.

[VladimirIlyich]

He rocked a great beard.

I saw the photos and it suited him.

[lifetime fan]

[Bjornebye]

"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people."

 

RIP