RIP Tony Benn.

[Barry Sanchez]

Another one gone, very sad indeed.

[OldNick]

I have the same emotion as the lefties had when Maggie died

[Johnny Bognor]

Didn't agree with his politics, but was one of the old school politicians who had conviction and wasn't afraid to say what he thought.

[Barry Sanchez]

I have the same emotion as the lefties had when Maggie died

 

Really? I find it sad you laugh at a man who wanted to make the World a better place, he was a gentleman as well.

[LVSaint]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ali+g+tony+benn

 

RIP

[Lord Duckhunter]

He was a conviction politician , the problem was nearly all his convictions were wrong.

 

He was not the cuddly old granddad figure he became in the 00's, he was a seriously deluded loon, particularly in the 60's and 70's. Like Michael Foot, it's amazing how someone can be so wrong so often. He caused deep divisions within his own party and contributed greatly to the Thatcher success story. Very, Very selfish politician who nearly destroyed the party he claimed to love. No doubt the BBC will big him up and make him out to be some sort of political great.

 

That said, it's always sad when someone passes , particularly for the family.

[OldNick]

Really? I find it sad you laugh at a man who wanted to make the World a better place, he was a gentleman as well.

if you lived through the 70s when his influence in government effected lots of people and the nation you may understand. Iam not laughing ,but find it amusing how offended you are especially after the songs and posts about Maggie n here, live by the sword etc etc

[Goatboy]

Barry. Just copy your outrage over from the Bob Crow thread. It will save you a load of time.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

A honest politician who said what meant and meant what he said - now there's a rarity.

 

What's no so unusual in statesmen of the lesser rank, such as he was, was that he lacked the mental flexibility required to accept that when you constantly find yourself on the wrong side of arguments - and Benn was wrong about nearly everything - you either have to adapt to a ever changing world or suffer the intellectual fate of the Dinosaurs.

 

It's been a bad week for Dinosaurs.

[Barry Sanchez]

if you lived through the 70s when his influence in government effected lots of people and the nation you may understand. Iam not laughing ,but find it amusing how offended you are especially after the songs and posts about Maggie n here, live by the sword etc etc

 

1) I hated Thatcher but I have never rejoiced in her demise and asked others not to do that either as its disrespectful, if you are so inclined you can see what I have written.

 

2) I was born in the 70's so no I dont but that does not stop me respecting a man who had conviction for his beliefs, the modern politician could learn a lot about him.

[Sheaf Saint]

I have the same emotion as the lefties had when Maggie died

 

Which lefties would that be then? You may find this very difficult to see through your blue-tinted spectacles, but there were plenty of 'lefties' who did not dance and sing and rejoice when she died. But if it suits you to carry on tarring them all with the same brush then don't let me stop you.

 

RIP Tony. A man of great conviction who will be missed. Not enough politicians like him on either side in this day and age.

[moonraker]

I met him once and had a drink with him, he was charming. His policies were to far to the left but his conviction cannot be questioned. He will leave a lasting legacy on British politics and was responsible for the great British (+France) achievement that was Concord. RIP Tony.

[OldNick]

Which lefties would that be then? You may find this very difficult to see through your blue-tinted spectacles, but there were plenty of 'lefties' who did not dance and sing and rejoice when she died. But if it suits you to carry on tarring them all with the same brush then don't let me stop you.

 

RIP Tony. A man of great conviction who will be missed. Not enough politicians like him on either side in this day and age.

Not all lefties of course. Iam not dancing but also not being a hypocrite and pretending I'm overly saddened apart from the grief his family are experiencing.

[alpine_saint]

The crusty old c**t never fitted or properly aligned with any political affiliation, in my opinion; he followed the causes that fitted with his personal beliefs.

 

For that, he has a lot more respect from me than that pr*ck Crowe.

 

The only slight issue I had with Benn was that whenever he was debating on TV he came across as smug and patronising, like he had an arrogant unshakeable belief he was always right, but in fairness it was a minor irritation.

[Tokyo-Saint]

They say these things come in threes. George Galloway must be having panic attacks.

[PhilippineSaint]

He was the best thing to happen to the Tory party ever.

 

With out him and the other hard left wingers in the Labour party the Conservatives would never have been elected in 79 and we wouldn't have had the Thatcher years ruining the country and the economy and the unions.

 

but the above is no wish of ill will on the deceased.

[alpine_saint]

They say these things come in threes. George Galloway must be having panic attacks.

 

One can only hope. He really is loathsome. He really loves the attention.

[Seaford Saint]

Tony Benn is my absolute hero.....I have met the man, read his diaries and I agree an awful lot of what he has said. If I have the energy and commitment that he had well into my 80's I will be chuffed. The NHS will get privatised, education will deteriorate, we already have zero hours contracts etc. None of which matter to me as can probably afford to fund operations etc. You takes your choices.....

[Tokyo-Saint]

One can only hope. He really is loathsome. He really loves the attention.

 

Pot, kettle or Barry?

[solentstars]

Rip I hated the guy in the 1970s but has I got older I realised what a clever man he was.I did not agree with some of his policy s but he was always a independent thinker .

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[tony13579]

I met him at The Dome in Feb 2000. I had a lengthy discussion with him about this new Nokia phone with email and a qwerty keyboard. I got a mention in his journal.

 

Seriously nice bloke. He was one of the few politicians who stayed on the benches till the early hours to get policy right.

[Barry Sanchez]

The crusty old c**t never fitted or properly aligned with any political affiliation, in my opinion; he followed the causes that fitted with his personal beliefs.

 

For that, he has a lot more respect from me than that pr*ck Crowe.

 

The only slight issue I had with Benn was that whenever he was debating on TV he came across as smug and patronising, like he had an arrogant unshakeable belief he was always right, but in fairness it was a minor irritation.

 

Has Russell Crowe died? Or even Martin?

[Barry Sanchez]

Pot, kettle or Barry?

 

Can you get out of my arse.

[Tokyo-Saint]

That's not the first time you''ve ever said that baz, is it?

[View From The Top]

A conviction politician. A rarity in these days of bland, middle of the road, soundbite, Oxbridge educated non-entities.

[Bearsy]

wait... was barry really raped + is this appropriate place to bring it up tokyos?

 

RIP to ben i liked his rice

[Goatboy]

wait... was barry really raped + is this appropriate place to bring it up tokyos?

 

RIP to ben i liked his rice

 

And when he was a red indian.

[Whitey Grandad]

He was a conviction politician , the problem was nearly all his convictions were wrong.

 

He was not the cuddly old granddad figure he became in the 00's, he was a seriously deluded loon, particularly in the 60's and 70's. Like Michael Foot, it's amazing how someone can be so wrong so often. He caused deep divisions within his own party and contributed greatly to the Thatcher success story. Very, Very selfish politician who nearly destroyed the party he claimed to love. No doubt the BBC will big him up and make him out to be some sort of political great.

 

That said, it's always sad when someone passes , particularly for the family.

 

All of this. He will always be Anthony Wedgwood Benn, formerly Viscount Stansgate to me. He never had the faintest clue what it was like to be poor or what went on in the real world. I once saw him in a TV debate where he thought that bank base rate was what you actually paid for borrowing money.

[alpine_saint]

Michael Foot ? Now he really was a lunatic (as well as allegedly being a KGB lackey)

Edited 14 March, 2014 by alpine_saint

[badgerx16]

I have the same emotion as the lefties had when Maggie died

 

The drinks are on you then ?

[Whitey Grandad]

Michael Foot ? Now he really was a lunatic.

 

He drove ok, he once gave me a lift in his Hillman Hunter estate.

[alpine_saint]

He drove ok, he once gave me a lift in his Hillman Hunter estate.

 

You seem to have a penchant for eccentric old men with wispy white hair, if your avatar is anything to go by...

[Dimond Geezer]

A proper old school leftie who went into politics to try to change things, rather than as a means to a cushy life & a nice fat pension. It's a pity there aren't many of his ilk left, we are now left with the wet lettuce career politicians on New Labour.

 

RiP Tony Benn & thanks for trying.

[pap]

Never met Tony Benn personally, but he was a mainstay at the anti-war demonstrations back in the early 2000s. Saw him speak at Hyde Park, and pull quite a few of his Parliamentary speeches for posts. Seemed open and transparent.

 

Probably did the best out of all the people that Ali G tried to go after.

 

 

RIP Tony. Make sure the bastards don't privatise the after-life.

[Barry Sanchez]

That's not the first time you''ve ever said that baz, is it?

 

No to be truthful its not.

[dubai_phil]

RIP Tony Benn.

 

Both he and Enoch Powell were great minds of their time. Both were conviction Politicians who always said what they believed to be the right things the wrong way and in never quite the right context.

 

Each Villified and Divisive, (rightly so) even by those purporting to hold similar views and we all know that they came across as Arrogant and Self Interested. Each made crushing mistakes of Judgement/timing or wording in their speeches/interviews that caused great harm to their Parties and in the long run to the Nation.

 

However as Intellectuals, Idealists and Thinkers, they put to shame the Modern Political Class of Spin Muppets.

 

I hated Tony Benn with a passion, as I did Powell. But I admire them both over anything I see on offer on Sky News or BBC World News today

[Whitey Grandad]

You seem to have a penchant for eccentric old men with wispy white hair, if your avatar is anything to go by...

 

You should see me now

[Halo Stickman]

RIP Mr Benn – an iconic figure who always spoke his mind.

 

Although, to be honest, he was never quite the same after the second Eubank fight.

[SuperMikey]

Before my time, but saw him speak at Glastonbury last year which was excellent. Sad that people let the whole left/right divide in politics change their opinion of a person, who by nearly all accounts was highly respected.

 

RIP

[dronskisaint]

Never thought I'd agree with anything the OP posted but Tony Benn was a man of principle and conviction.

 

It's easy to dismiss him as a champagne socialist but all that would prove is that you had not read or listened to what he wrote or said..as many closed their minds to him as they did to Powell as mentioned earlier. I can recommend his diaries whatever your political persuasion.

 

The world is a less-wise place for his passing - he genuinely did care about his fellow humans...that is the big difference between him and Thatcher. RIP Tony Benn

[Minty]

I'll happily admit to being relatively ignorant about politics during most of his time within it, and so am not particularly aware of his ways, but I certainly can't argue with this quote.

 

[buctootim]

He was a conviction politician , the problem was nearly all his convictions were wrong.

 

He was not the cuddly old granddad figure he became in the 00's, he was a seriously deluded loon, particularly in the 60's and 70's. Like Michael Foot, it's amazing how someone can be so wrong so often. He caused deep divisions within his own party and contributed greatly to the Thatcher success story.

 

That said, it's always sad when someone passes , particularly for the family.

 

This really. That said I did grow some respect for him when he was interviewed by Ali G as per the clip Benn really took him on in such a charming but direct and forceful way that the comedy fell flat.

Edited 14 March, 2014 by buctootim

[BigShadow]

RIP Tony Benn.

 

Both he and Enoch Powell were great minds of their time. Both were conviction Politicians who always said what they believed to be the right things the wrong way and in never quite the right context.

 

Each Villified and Divisive, (rightly so) even by those purporting to hold similar views and we all know that they came across as Arrogant and Self Interested. Each made crushing mistakes of Judgement/timing or wording in their speeches/interviews that caused great harm to their Parties and in the long run to the Nation.

 

However as Intellectuals, Idealists and Thinkers, they put to shame the Modern Political Class of Spin Muppets.

 

I hated Tony Benn with a passion, as I did Powell. But I admire them both over anything I see on offer on Sky News or BBC World News today

 

Sums up my thoughts pretty well. Modern politics is desperate for people with the intelligence, passion and conviction of men like Tony Benn. RIP.

[saintbletch]

I have the same emotion as the lefties had when Maggie died

 

What, you lament that you never got to **** Tony Benn with a multi-pronged hatstand, whilst wearing an Arthur Scargill mask and singing "There's power in a union"?

 

I respected him because he seemed to believe what he said, and said what he seemed to believe.

 

The biggest 'crime' he was guilty of IMO was simply naivety.

[scotty]

He was a conviction politician , the problem was nearly all his convictions were wrong.

 

He was not the cuddly old granddad figure he became in the 00's, he was a seriously deluded loon, particularly in the 60's and 70's. Like Michael Foot, it's amazing how someone can be so wrong so often. He caused deep divisions within his own party and contributed greatly to the Thatcher success story. Very, Very selfish politician who nearly destroyed the party he claimed to love. No doubt the BBC will big him up and make him out to be some sort of political great.

 

That said, it's always sad when someone passes , particularly for the family.

 

At least he believed in what he was saying. The one thing I agreed with him on wholeheartedly was his position on the EU, (or as it was then, the Common Market.) He was a strong advocate of complete withdrawal in order to return control of the UK economy to Westminster and the politicians elected by the British public. He was ignored back then, and aren't those chickens coming home to roost now. It's only by luck (and Gordon Brown) that Blair didn't get his way and leave us floundering in the disaster area that is the eurozone.

[pap]

Well, that's two strident leftie critics of the EU gone in one week.

[Bearsy]

are you suggesting conspiracy pap? I heard there was loads of euro-sceptics on that malaysian plane. Also the helicopter crash in nofucks

[Batman]

Well, that's two strident leftie critics of the EU gone in one week.

 

they are probably held somewhere in Diego Garcia and this is all part of the evil tory party plan???

[Tokyo-Saint]

George Galloway invited to weekend of Bungee jumping. Don't do it George!

[Whitey Grandad]

At least he believed in what he was saying. The one thing I agreed with him on wholeheartedly was his position on the EU, (or as it was then, the Common Market.) He was a strong advocate of complete withdrawal in order to return control of the UK economy to Westminster and the politicians elected by the British public. He was ignored back then, and aren't those chickens coming home to roost now. It's only by luck (and Gordon Brown) that Blair didn't get his way and leave us floundering in the disaster area that is the eurozone.

 

Instead of floundering outside the Eurozone do you mean?