Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

I thought DC was walking funny...now I know why! :)

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

A multi millionaire with his own mansion on his private estate, a £3 million mansion in London, a private Westminster School education, his kids educated at the 'Socialist Eaton'.

Yep, a typical true left wing Socialist.

But then, he could afford to be. After all, he didn't have to practice it to preach it.

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Now look here, Gordon, I'm just starting to develop a hangover from imbibing large amounts of alcohol this afternoon, Stanley have just been beaten in injury time at Rochdale, the last thing I need is you telling us that our working-class hero who we are all gathered here to praise was actually a champagne socialist! ��

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Yes, WH, but look on the bright side, think what a hangover you'd have had if they'd won!
Champagne doesn't give you a hangover!

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

If yeh had bothered to read the thread people are well aware of his background, :( Even Cameron n his cronies are, but even they weren't that mean mouthed.:mad:

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Another 3 degrees of separation thread wander sort of.

Was in Hastings yesterday for a pals funeral, the morning of which found me at the town museum to pass a couple of hours. Hadn't realised until I came across a range of exhibits that Robert Tressell who wrote The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist that great and savage analysis on the relationship between the working classes and their employers around the time the Labour Party was being founded had lived for a while there and based Mugsborough on the town.

Great read and piece of social history.

I must have another read of the chapter called "The Great Money Trick"

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

'She was evil and will not be missed'.
'summat else to detest her for'.
'its made my day'.
'Still, if you must defend the bitch'.

Recognize any of those quotes, cashman? I didn't realize you had a problem with 'mean mouthing' dead politicians.
Or is it a case of dual standards?

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Gordon, I think it is a case of Cashy not liking MT...well no...I think he hated her
Tony Benn was a different kettle of fish. There were lots of things I actually didn't like about him, but I could still respect him because he was his own man.

None of us have nail holes if we look at our palms.

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

No i aint got a problem wi it, its more you i dont care for much.

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Maybe I'm being a bit thick here, but..

Are you saying you can't be a socialist if you have wealth?
Are you saying that because you are a socialist you cannot want what is best for your kids?
Are you saying that to be a true socialist you have to be as poor as the little match girl?
Are you saying that only capitalists are allowed to be wealthy?

The difference between a rich socialist and a rich capitalist is that one wants others to have what he has and strives to give them the opportunity to do so, whilst the other wants everything for himself, even though he will never use most of it.

Funny how capitalists claim that socialists are just jealous of the wealth they have, then when they actually find a socialist who has a few quid they accuse them of betraying the cause

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

found this on the bbc website today ... channel 4 interviewed tony benn and while they were there he videotaped a message that could only be broadcast after he died ...

BBC News - Tony Benn: 'I'll check that on transmission'

rip tony benn...

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

When Stanley played Walsall in 2007, me and Karen were outside Euston station having some breakfast before catching the train to Birmingham, and we noticed that Tony Benn was sitting by himself at the next table to us. So we invited him to join us, and without hesitation he accepted. The thing that I noticed was how interested he was in what we did, and he was particularly taken by the fact that Karen was a qualified social worker. In other words, he wanted the conversation to be about us and what we thought, rather than about him. I remember we did ask him about his views on the late-70s and the miners' strike, and on the impact of Blair on the Labour Party. As it happened, he was on the same train as us, as he was on his way to speak to a small gathering commemorating a women's trade union movement that had started in the Midlands. And as he tromped off in his hiking boots, you couldn't help but admire someone who was, even then, in his eighties and yet still had the energy and motivation to contribute to public life in an undeniably selfless way.

I think those that criticise him for his privileged background ought to consider this. You can't choose the family into which you are born, but you can to some degree choose how you utilise the advantages that family wealth brings. In this respect, you can do a lot worse than the example set by Tony Benn.

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

R.I.P. Mr. Benn, a true socialist, I suspect he decided to go early so that New Labour will be aggravated by the sound of him spinning in his grave because of what they've done to his party.
:(

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

labour are begining to sound like a washing powder advert

labour the party of the people

new labour - now with added tory

new improved new labour - screw the people their too thick to get it

even newer new new labour - removes all remaining shreds of dignity this country has left

Re: R.i.p. Tony benn
 

Yes, Tony Benn was born into a privileged family......and as Phil Whalley has so rightly pointed out we can not choose the family we are born into.
I looked at the link that Jen provided(thanks Jen) and on the BBC site(which I know is pro-Labour - before anyone points this out to me) there was another clip of Tony Benn speaking.
he says

'The real division in society is between the people who create the wealth by working, and those who own the wealth.
Those who own the wealth have too much power and use it to control those who create the wealth'

As I have said, I didn't agree with some of the ideas that were put forward by Tony Benn, but I think that in spite of him being privileged by birth he could see the divisions and tried his best to redress the balance.

I believed that he was something quite rare - an honest politician who said what he felt, what he believed in, regardless of what the party told him to say.

He was eloquent and educated...but I felt that he would listen to the common man and take on board his concerns.
I respect him for this and wish that there were more like him in politics today