Page 583 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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As hinted at above, Benn was born into a life of privilege. He was the son and grandson of Liberal MPs, but clearly this did not sit well with him, as he became the first member of parliament to renounce his peerage, opening up the House of Lords to much-needed reform.
A tireless fighter for workers, the poor and for peace, Tony Benn was an example to all of us on the left of what you can achieve when you stick to your principles and never bow down to the rich and powerful.
He believed in the power of movements and of mobilising people to fight for the causes that he cared about. As UK Labour leader Ed Miliband said of Tony Benn, “In a world of politics that is often too small, he thought big about our country and our world.”
Tony Benn was a man who believed that if we can find the money to fight wars and kill people then we can find the money to help people. It is hard to argue with that logic, Madam Speaker.
Benn’s life was an interesting one, not just because he had a long parliamentary career or because he was known as a great socialist but because he was one of the few people who saw the world for what it was and, as such, became more radical with old age—something I hope many of us can do as we get older, Madam Speaker.
In retirement Benn became a full-time activist. He would travel the UK talking to communities, to young people and to Labour branches about many things, including opposing the invasion of Iraq, the importance of the public health system and of fighting austerity.
I want to finish by quoting one lesson that Tony Benn taught throughout much of his later life:
In the course of my life I have developed five little democratic questions. If one meets a powerful person ask them five questions:
What power have you got?
Where did you get it from?
In whose interests do you exercise it?
To whom are you accountable?
And how can we get rid of you?
If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.
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