:00:12. > :00:18.He was once described by the press as the most dangerous man in
:00:19. > :00:21.Britain. The Viscount's son, the public schoolboy, who became a
:00:22. > :00:25.champion of the working-class. The establishment was scared of him,
:00:26. > :00:28.Here was a guy, perfect manners and charm, public school, and he still
:00:29. > :00:34.wanted to do things for people at the bottom. A politician devoted to
:00:35. > :00:41.his party, but whose socialist vision nearly tore it apart. He
:00:42. > :00:45.managed to become an instrument of and a leader of some of the most
:00:46. > :00:49.destructive forces in the Labour Party. I think he will be remembered
:00:50. > :00:55.as one of the most significant figures the Labour has ever
:00:56. > :01:00.produced. His refusal to compromise on his political beliefs infuriated
:01:01. > :01:07.his colleagues. But having lost the argument he was left on the
:01:08. > :01:10.sidelines. He had been a fixer, an operator, there was no doubt he
:01:11. > :01:15.would have been Prime Minister. When Tony Benn left parliament it was, he
:01:16. > :01:19.said, to spend more time politics, and he never gave up fighting.
:01:20. > :01:24.Ultimately becoming something of a national treasure sure. Comrades
:01:25. > :01:29.this is a very remarkable achievement. I have no regretted
:01:30. > :01:32.whatsoever, I made mistakes, they were mistakes made because I
:01:33. > :01:36.believed what I was saying at the time, not because I was manoeuvring
:01:37. > :01:52.and manipulating for some position for myself.
:01:53. > :01:58.Anthony Neil wedge wedge Benn was born in 1925 to a family steeped in
:01:59. > :02:02.the tradition of radical non-conformism. His playground was
:02:03. > :02:08.Westminster, and from the start his life was intensely political. His
:02:09. > :02:15.grandfather was Sir John Benn, a preacher's son who became a liberal
:02:16. > :02:21.MP, and Tony's father, William Wedgwood Benn was a liberal until
:02:22. > :02:25.switching to Labour. This political ancestry was reinforced by his
:02:26. > :02:28.mother, herself the daughter of a liberal MP. The family was raised at
:02:29. > :02:34.home in Millbank, just a stone's throw from Westminster. A remarkable
:02:35. > :02:43.political childhood, included encounters with Oswald Mosley,
:02:44. > :02:48.Mahatma Gandhi, and McDonald. In 1929 when Tony was four his father
:02:49. > :03:00.became a member of McDonald's cabinet. Mr Wedgwood Benn, he is one
:03:01. > :03:06.of the young men. He is having also a task of the very greatest
:03:07. > :03:10.importance. He is to be the Secretary of State for India. Tony
:03:11. > :03:16.Benn was very unusual in British politicians, who I quite often think
:03:17. > :03:20.are hoesorically minded. But the political compost out of which he
:03:21. > :03:29.came he was very aware of and was eloquent about it. Meeting Ramsey
:03:30. > :03:32.McDonald as a boy. And the non-conformist descent is just as
:03:33. > :03:36.crucial as any version of British Associationism, it was the interplay
:03:37. > :03:39.between the two that made him so fascinating.
:03:40. > :03:46.Holidays spent at the family home on the River Blackwater in Essex were
:03:47. > :03:51.Hick particularly happy. Tony had a younger brother and elder brother.
:03:52. > :04:00.He was very close to his father, who taught them the words of a
:04:01. > :04:05.non-conformist hymn. Dare To Be A Daniel. It was something his dad
:04:06. > :04:09.said to him, it was dare to be a Daniel and dare to stand alone. I
:04:10. > :04:14.think he rather thought very often that message was coming through from
:04:15. > :04:19.the past to him. And if you thought it was right and proper you should
:04:20. > :04:23.stand up and say it. Benn went to Westminster School in 1938, he
:04:24. > :04:26.wasn't a top sol larks but was certainly a top debater, not
:04:27. > :04:31.surprisingly world affairs, appeasment and the imminent war were
:04:32. > :04:36.dominant themes. While at Westminster he learned his father
:04:37. > :04:42.had accepted a hereditary peerage, becoming Viscount Stansgate, an act
:04:43. > :04:55.that would profoundly affect Tony's life and career. After a year at
:04:56. > :05:09.Oxford he followed his brother into the RAF. By 1943 he was sent to
:05:10. > :05:11.train in in Rhodiasia, he was posted to Egypt. That was after a
:05:12. > :05:17.devastating event in the family as life. They were dealt a cruel blow
:05:18. > :05:26.in June 1944 when Michael, the eldest son was killed in a flying
:05:27. > :05:32.accident at an airbase in Sussex. After the war Benn returned to New
:05:33. > :05:37.College Oxford, now the heir to his father's title. His charisma and
:05:38. > :05:40.skill at public speaking saw him elected President of the Union. At
:05:41. > :05:45.times of war the Government creates an unlimited demand for weapons of
:05:46. > :05:50.destruction, for guns, stinks, aircraft and ships, and yet in times
:05:51. > :05:53.of peace when human needs are to be met, needs of food, clothing and
:05:54. > :05:59.shelter, it is possible for the economy to be thrown into one of
:06:00. > :06:02.these paradoxes of misery and poverty. He was one of those elder
:06:03. > :06:08.statesmen which you achieve the position of when you are about 24 in
:06:09. > :06:16.our old universities, and he was of that group. He was charming,
:06:17. > :06:25.eloquent, able. Much admired. In the summer of 1948 Benn met Caroline
:06:26. > :06:29.DeKamp, an American student attending a course at Oxford. He
:06:30. > :06:32.said he fell in love with a girl as soon as he saw her. She was a highly
:06:33. > :06:41.intelligent and rather attractive woman. I think he proposed within
:06:42. > :06:46.three weeks of their meeting. She accepted him. He bought the park
:06:47. > :06:54.bench on which he and she were sitting when he proposed. He has a
:06:55. > :06:57.sentimental side to him. That was a very interesting aspect of his
:06:58. > :07:06.character, which was not generally perceived. You are attuned to the
:07:07. > :07:10.general overseas service of the BBC. In 1949 Tony Benn began his career
:07:11. > :07:15.in the BBC, where he did just about everything from interviewing George
:07:16. > :07:18.Bernard Shaw to providing commentary at Wimbledon. Not very exciting
:07:19. > :07:23.tennis on this court at this particular moment! But at the age of
:07:24. > :07:31.just 25, Benn's career changed tack. He swapped the BBC for the Labour
:07:32. > :07:35.Party. He stood for the seat of Bristol south-east. His collection
:07:36. > :07:39.in November 1950 was the first day of a parliamentary career that would
:07:40. > :07:44.span over half a century. Right from the start, the newly elected MP knew
:07:45. > :07:49.that he could inherent his father's title at any moment. As a Viscount
:07:50. > :07:54.he would no longer be able to work as an MP. As Britain began to
:07:55. > :07:58.modernise Benn was just what the Labour Party needed. A clever,
:07:59. > :08:21.fluent performer with broadcasting experience.
:08:22. > :08:25.Good evening, this is our television operations room. Throughout the
:08:26. > :08:31.campaign the leaders of the Labour Party will be speaking directly from
:08:32. > :08:36.here. As Benn's career took off, he and Carl line started their own
:08:37. > :08:40.family -- Caroline started their own family, eventually having four
:08:41. > :08:44.children. But the event that Benn dreaded happened in November 1960
:08:45. > :08:48.when his father died. Benn felt the loss keenly. But he was also
:08:49. > :08:54.determined that his career in the elected chamber would not end. He
:08:55. > :08:57.hated the idea that because of blood you could be in a position to shape
:08:58. > :09:04.legislation. He couldn't stand it, he thought it is an axe crowism, he
:09:05. > :09:11.thought an outrage, that fuelled it. The day after his father's death the
:09:12. > :09:14.Speaker ordered that Benn be barred from the House of Commons. But when
:09:15. > :09:21.the inevitable by-election was called, Benn defiantly fought to
:09:22. > :09:24.retain his seat. On what grounds are you fighting the by-election? Well I
:09:25. > :09:29.think two grounds really, first of all the ground of personal freedom.
:09:30. > :09:33.Freedom for me to give up a title I don't want, and freedom for my
:09:34. > :09:36.constituents to choose their own member of parliament. It was
:09:37. > :09:40.fantastic triumph, he won with a huge majority and created a
:09:41. > :09:47.constitutional crisis. Despite all the threats and pressures that have
:09:48. > :09:52.been put upon you here in Bristol South East, you have remained
:09:53. > :09:57.absolutely firm to your right to choose your own member of
:09:58. > :10:01.parliament. That wasn't how the authorities saw it, the door keepers
:10:02. > :10:06.at the Commons had been told to prevent him attending, by force if
:10:07. > :10:10.necessary. So Benn's case was heard by the electoral court. The judgment
:10:11. > :10:15.went against him. His title was said to be a fixed in the blood, and his
:10:16. > :10:21.Conservative opponent was given the seat. But Benn refused to sit back
:10:22. > :10:23.and accept the ruling. It showed extraordinary persistence and
:10:24. > :10:28.courage, he fought back time and again. Each time he was turned down
:10:29. > :10:32.and he just went on. I think it was impressive. That's the kind that
:10:33. > :10:39.Tony Benn was extremely impressive about. That kind of terribly
:10:40. > :10:42.complete determination coupled with chum. Eventually the Conservative
:10:43. > :10:49.Government accepted the need for change. In 1963 the Peerage Bill was
:10:50. > :10:54.passed which allowed Benn to renounce his title. The experience
:10:55. > :11:02.had radicalised him, as he signalled on the night of his second
:11:03. > :11:09.by-election win. Anthony kneel Wedgwood Benn, 20,300, defeating the
:11:10. > :11:13.Tory cabinet. You have defeated the House of Lords, you have defeated
:11:14. > :11:22.the courts, you have changed the constitution of this country by your
:11:23. > :11:27.own power. The mood in the country was changing, Labour was back in
:11:28. > :11:32.office after a 13-year gap, and Prime Minister Harold Wilson
:11:33. > :11:40.appointed Benn Post Master General. Benn was in charge in late 1965 when
:11:41. > :11:46.the ultra modern Post Office Tower was opened by the Queen. Tony Benn
:11:47. > :11:51.in the 60s was clear-eyed, idealistic, something of a Boy Scout
:11:52. > :11:56.in the Labour movement. Very open and on the whole fairly content to
:11:57. > :12:05.live within the limitations that Government imposes. This is the
:12:06. > :12:09.Ministry of Technology, according to its boss, Tony Benn. The object of
:12:10. > :12:13.technology is to get more out of it, not less. He's a politician ready
:12:14. > :12:18.for the new era of change and development. A man who relishes the
:12:19. > :12:25.opportunities his job gives him. He was a technological enthusiast and
:12:26. > :12:29.whizzkid. Part of that was wedded to his temporary enthusiasm for Europe.
:12:30. > :12:36.Technological projects like Concorde were possible with European
:12:37. > :12:40.assistance. He believed it would develop best with European
:12:41. > :12:47.co-operation, and Concorde seemed to be the very image of anglo-French
:12:48. > :12:56.development. He wave the impression of whizzkidry as Ministry of
:12:57. > :13:00.Technology. The labour-intensive nature of the post-war recovery in
:13:01. > :13:04.western Europe was a fleeting thing, and unless the state controlled the
:13:05. > :13:11.application of technology it would crush people it was feared. The ship
:13:12. > :13:17.builders of the upper Clyde were just one group paying the price of
:13:18. > :13:21.technological change. It is here in Britain's decaying industrial
:13:22. > :13:25.heartlands that Benn's enduring political purpose began to emerge.
:13:26. > :13:30.You would think back a number of years ago, the finest ship builders
:13:31. > :13:33.in the world. Yet today we are all here begging for money off the
:13:34. > :13:38.Government. So in my opinion it could be management, it is
:13:39. > :13:40.definitely not the men. As minister for technology Benn was forced to
:13:41. > :13:49.talk about the difficult choices that lay ahead. Do you bring a
:13:50. > :13:53.message of hope? It is a moment of truth today because we have some
:13:54. > :13:58.harsh realities to face, I have come as a friend and not hatchet man.
:13:59. > :14:02.Sure enough Benn ended up pumping in lots of money to keep things going.
:14:03. > :14:18.Comrades most of all thank you very much for your warm welcome. I see
:14:19. > :14:22.all the banners about the fears of redonnedcy. My position as Minister
:14:23. > :14:27.For Technology drove me to think about how people could fight back
:14:28. > :14:31.against big organisations. Although I was involved in all sorts of
:14:32. > :14:35.complicated things one dealt with as a minister, my real interest was
:14:36. > :14:48.developing a political system that allowed people to control their own
:14:49. > :14:52.lives against big international companies. He always said he moved
:14:53. > :14:56.to the left when in office. A lot of people were thinking where is this
:14:57. > :15:01.man going politically. Is he really of the left, is he just pretending.
:15:02. > :15:04.Plenty of cynics said he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and
:15:05. > :15:10.went to all the best schools and all the rest of it. And this was
:15:11. > :15:15.political posturing and positioning. When Labour unexpectedly lost the
:15:16. > :15:24.election of 1970, for Tony Benn this was Wilson's punishment for
:15:25. > :15:27.betraying the party's ideals. The disappointments of the Wilson
:15:28. > :15:30.Government he felt acutely. Unlike some in that Government he didn't
:15:31. > :15:35.therefore move to the centre and say we must get a progressive centre
:15:36. > :15:41.left consensus and not be too radical about it. He thought the
:15:42. > :15:45.best of the left dissenting traditions had been stifled by the
:15:46. > :15:51.managerial-minded Harold. And Tony, the romantic, came to the fore.
:15:52. > :15:58.Those two then stayed the predominant ones for the rest of his
:15:59. > :16:01.life. Benn's chance came in 1971 when thousands marched through the
:16:02. > :16:04.streets of Glasgow at the decision to end the supsidies to the Clyde
:16:05. > :16:14.ship builders. When the workers took over the shipyards Benn offered his
:16:15. > :16:26.support. We have a great speaker, a man who needs no introduction, Tony
:16:27. > :16:30.Wedgwood Benn! Our Our task, if we want a responsible society, is to
:16:31. > :16:37.give responsibility to ordinary people. And take away the privilege
:16:38. > :16:42.from a minority who have dominated this country for too many centuries,
:16:43. > :16:47.good luck comrades thank you for inviting me. That experience was a
:16:48. > :16:58.revelation, and it was, by anybody's measure a noble struggle. He
:16:59. > :17:03.actually then saw workerism applied and courageously asserted. I think
:17:04. > :17:13.the romantic in him met the politician in him and the result was
:17:14. > :17:20.that the Tony Benn of the 1970s and 80s that everybody remembers. What a
:17:21. > :17:30.transformation it was, always Tony Benn, no more "Anthony Wedgwood" and
:17:31. > :17:34.plenty of tea with the workers. He believed the working-class wanted
:17:35. > :17:39.him to drink out of a big mug. If possible wear a cloth cap. That's
:17:40. > :17:43.because he went through life immensely embarrassed by
:17:44. > :17:50.Westminster, New College, son of a peer, millionaire. We heard very
:17:51. > :17:55.little of that during his lifetime. His enemies throw that at him as if
:17:56. > :17:59.he didn't care or think about the lives of ordinary people. His
:18:00. > :18:03.background wasn't his fault. But as Nye Bevan said it is not where you
:18:04. > :18:10.have come from, it is where you are going. Tony and Caroline lived by
:18:11. > :18:15.the values they espoused. All their kids went to comprehensive schools.
:18:16. > :18:19.There was no critical double standard, other people can send
:18:20. > :18:23.their kids to commencive school and mine is to the best independent
:18:24. > :18:30.school, that wasn't there. Car role was his -- Carol was his rock, she
:18:31. > :18:34.was a strong woman. Academic in her own right. Maybe even stuffer than
:18:35. > :18:38.Tony. Their relationship was fundamental to his ability to carry
:18:39. > :18:41.on doing what he was doing, in a time when a lot of the political
:18:42. > :18:49.world and the media world was against him. K Benn's political
:18:50. > :18:54.journey to the left was encouraged every step by his wife. As Party
:18:55. > :18:58.Chairman he grew for radical, championing worker control and
:18:59. > :19:03.public ownership of industry. State intervention on a massive scale. We
:19:04. > :19:07.must gain democratic control over the huge and remote centres of
:19:08. > :19:10.irresponsible and managerial power created by the latest Industrial
:19:11. > :19:18.Revolution, including the multinational company. The first
:19:19. > :19:22.general election of 1974 saw Labour to return to office. With no
:19:23. > :19:28.majority it was almost powerless and Harold Wilson wanted no trouble.
:19:29. > :19:33.Wilson who always throughout in chess-like terms, made Tony Benn
:19:34. > :19:37.Minister for Industry, in the hope that the harsh realities of the
:19:38. > :19:43.economy would compel Tony into a more "realistic" position, Wilson's
:19:44. > :19:49.quote, what he would see as "moralistic position". But it didn't
:19:50. > :19:54.work that way, Tony saw the answer to the problems as lying greater and
:19:55. > :19:58.greater in state control, and planning agreements with all the
:19:59. > :20:02.major companies which would mean the Government was in the driving seat.
:20:03. > :20:07.Benn drew up a far-reaching industry bill which he believed would stop
:20:08. > :20:11.the rot. These 30 pages contain the most radical plan to alter British
:20:12. > :20:24.society attempted by any Government since the war. Will this bill damage
:20:25. > :20:27.the industry or bring about change. This is Tony's pitch, to grab
:20:28. > :20:32.Britain's economic decline by the throat, turn it round and wrench it
:20:33. > :20:37.in a new direction. He's just like Mrs Thatcher in this. They both
:20:38. > :20:40.believe out of catastrophe could come regeneration, if only people
:20:41. > :20:45.were bold enough to give a lead and they had confidence in theritish
:20:46. > :20:49.people. But the press had no confidence in Tony Benn. The
:20:50. > :20:56.reaction was ferocious, and not much better in cabinet. He fought very
:20:57. > :20:59.hard by every method he knew how to get his industry policy through.
:21:00. > :21:02.Despite the fact it was clear the Government was not enthusiastic
:21:03. > :21:08.about the idea of massive public ownership and planning agreements
:21:09. > :21:14.across the rest of the economy. The continual coming forward for public
:21:15. > :21:18.money to save industries that were almost certainly not viable began to
:21:19. > :21:23.irritate the cabinet. It took a lot of opposition by most of the rest of
:21:24. > :21:28.the cabinet to blunt it, to narrow it down. Benn also had problems
:21:29. > :21:34.selling the policy to his own civil servant. The Permanent Secretary,
:21:35. > :21:37.Sir Anthony Part was especially unhappy. Some of the policies that
:21:38. > :21:41.he was suggesting were pretty radical but we slogged it out
:21:42. > :21:47.between us. You say you slogged it out, in what way do you slog it out
:21:48. > :21:50.to the minister? I would say it is nonsense and I would say that is the
:21:51. > :21:54.way to have it. I would say OK you are the Secretary of State you want
:21:55. > :21:58.it that way you have it that way. He would come in storming, he would
:21:59. > :22:02.want to do something and have a plan for the steel industry or something,
:22:03. > :22:07.and he would come in and say Wilson has stopped, it, I have been to the
:22:08. > :22:12.cabinet today, and it's marked what he has done, the Cabinet Office has
:22:13. > :22:19.rung up Anthony Park what do you think of this, and he has said it is
:22:20. > :22:23.rubbish and Wilson would stop T The civil servants were said to be
:22:24. > :22:34.scared of Benn's reforming zeal. He loved to tell the Tory of a mix-up
:22:35. > :22:39.with his briefing documents. -- the story of a mix up with his briefing
:22:40. > :22:43.documents. There were three briefs, one for a Conservative victory that
:22:44. > :22:47.didn't occur, and the other one for the Industry Minister they hoped
:22:48. > :22:51.for, and one for Mr Benn and they sent me the wrong brief. So I got an
:22:52. > :22:55.idea of what my successor would be advised to do in order to bypass the
:22:56. > :22:59.Mr Benn who had been Secretary of State for Industry from March 7th to
:23:00. > :23:06.4th October. You couldn't have a clearer example, if you like, of why
:23:07. > :23:10.manipulation, and somebody forgot to cross it off and gave the wrong
:23:11. > :23:15.copy. The establishment was scared of him. Here was a guy with perfect
:23:16. > :23:19.manners and charm, grown up with a background of politics, he had grown
:23:20. > :23:23.up public school and still wanted to do things for people at the bottom.
:23:24. > :23:30.It was rather like a disciple might have been in the Bible. And the
:23:31. > :23:33.Messiah, and they thought of him in that way. In the Bible they were
:23:34. > :23:41.very worried about prophets who turned up and got the people's
:23:42. > :23:42.support. Harold Wilson was the man who controlled Tony Benn's
:23:43. > :23:51.ministerial progress, but their relationship was increasingly
:23:52. > :23:56.different. Benn came to dismice Wilson's manipulative style of
:23:57. > :24:01.leadership. Tony was more confident than Wilson, because he was of the
:24:02. > :24:06.purple this rich compost. His detractors would say it was an
:24:07. > :24:13.aristocratic arrogance, I don't think it was. It was self-confidence
:24:14. > :24:20.as if he was voicing the long British tradition that went back to
:24:21. > :24:27.the 17th century, Protestant and the levellers, those who went into power
:24:28. > :24:31.trouble throughout history. I think Harold Wilson thought Tony Benn was
:24:32. > :24:35.his natural successor. Howard represented the new Britain and Tony
:24:36. > :24:40.Benn in anything he did and said represented new Britain as well.
:24:41. > :24:46.Tony was what we call in Yorkshire, awkward, he was not a team player,
:24:47. > :24:50.he was difficult with Harold. Harold became more dispairing of him and
:24:51. > :24:58.began the demigration of him, making him into a joke. He is an ageing
:24:59. > :25:03.perennial youth. He immatures with age! He certainly does, he was
:25:04. > :25:08.terribly sensible when he was a young minister for the first time in
:25:09. > :25:12.the Post Office. Wilson decided to rein him in, he was backed by senior
:25:13. > :25:15.cabinet colleagues, and they all demanded that Benn give an
:25:16. > :25:23.undertaking in writing that he would stick to collective responsibility.
:25:24. > :25:28.An extraordinary letter in the Prime Minister's files dated November 6th
:25:29. > :25:34.1974, and it is Tony Benn to Harold Wilson, as part of his running row
:25:35. > :25:37.about collectsive responsibility. Just listen. "Dear Prime Minister I
:25:38. > :25:40.made it clear in my last letter that I accept the principle of collective
:25:41. > :25:47.responsibility as applying to all ministers. And all the requirements
:25:48. > :25:50.that flow from it. Yours Tony Benn". That is the minimum of what he could
:25:51. > :25:55.have said to satisfied Wilson. You can feel the resentment, it bursts
:25:56. > :26:00.out from this built of paper and it sings volumes, how he hated it.
:26:01. > :26:06.The rift grew wider, Britain had joined the Common Market two years
:26:07. > :26:16.earlier, now Benn led the cause for a referendum on whether to stay in,
:26:17. > :26:19.he got his way. Labour was bitterly divided and Wilson tried to limit
:26:20. > :26:24.the damage, cleverly, by allowing minister to do what they liked and
:26:25. > :26:33.campaign according to their consciences. Benn's journey to the
:26:34. > :26:37.left had involved a re-think on Europe. He now saw the E. C as
:26:38. > :26:43.deeply undemocratic, and an enemy of socialism. Wherever you look you
:26:44. > :26:51.find British manufacturing industry in decline. You find our capacity to
:26:52. > :26:54.sell our goods abroad threatened by more powerful continental
:26:55. > :26:57.manufacturers who have been able to get investment in their plant,
:26:58. > :27:06.denied to British workers in this country. He knew the European Union
:27:07. > :27:10.rules would stop any control of industry which he was in very much
:27:11. > :27:17.favour of. He campaigned against going into Europe, and he didn't
:27:18. > :27:28.have a chance the press wanted him to go into Europe and it became a
:27:29. > :27:36.vote for and against Benn. He has been described as "dangerous" as
:27:37. > :27:42."devious" as "evil" as "unscrupulous" as "fanatical" as
:27:43. > :27:46."lunatic" that is hardly a single word in the book that hasn't been
:27:47. > :27:53.thrown at him. It is the vilist campaign of misrepresentation
:27:54. > :28:00.against any politician that has been seen. They were vile to him and it
:28:01. > :28:06.scarred him. He saw it as organised by rich owners against working
:28:07. > :28:09.people of Britain and the Democratic Left condition. The yes campaign
:28:10. > :28:14.scored a massive victory on polling day. In the aftermath Benn's
:28:15. > :28:18.relations with his boss worsened. Wilson was determined to block his
:28:19. > :28:24.progress without upsetting the left. It was so obvious that Benn would
:28:25. > :28:27.highly likely to be the next Prime Minister of the Labour Party, or at
:28:28. > :28:31.least if we went into opposition the next leader and Wilson was
:28:32. > :28:37.determined to stop him. He couldn't do anything until the referendum was
:28:38. > :28:41.over. As soon as the referendum was over, he said he would clip his
:28:42. > :28:46.wings and he did, shoved him to energy. Benn did think about
:28:47. > :28:52.resigning but he decided to carry on, inheriting another set of civil
:28:53. > :29:00.servants. I got a telephone call late at night to say that I would be
:29:01. > :29:06.getting a new minister, and I was going to get Tony Benn. And I just
:29:07. > :29:13.laughed and laughed. You might say it was a form of hysteria. I don't
:29:14. > :29:26.think it was hysterical laughing. I wondered what I had done to deserve
:29:27. > :29:42.this I knew his reputation. I'm really surprised he took the job, he
:29:43. > :29:47.was so badly shaken up. Benn's prospects changed when Harold Wilson
:29:48. > :29:50.resigned, prompting a leadership election. Tony Benn offered a
:29:51. > :29:55.radical and uncompromising socialist programme. As a candidate I must
:29:56. > :29:59.make clear if anyone votes for me there will be a stronger national
:30:00. > :30:04.enterprise board, planning agreements with major companies.
:30:05. > :30:07.Government-financed investment to reequip Britain, otherwise this
:30:08. > :30:11.country, which built its strength on manufacturing industry, will bleed
:30:12. > :30:16.to death. Look at this one, sent us a bunch of heather. Despite high
:30:17. > :30:26.hopes, Benn came a disappointing fourth in the first ballot and crew
:30:27. > :30:30.withdrew from the contest. We had a meeting afterwards and everyone said
:30:31. > :30:40.you did well. I said what do we have to do, why won't they vote for me.
:30:41. > :30:43.And I said it was because he took more risks, and the party were
:30:44. > :30:51.choosing. He said we will change the rules. Under the ruse of the day it
:30:52. > :30:58.was James Callaghan who stepped into Downing Street. Callaghan did all
:30:59. > :31:01.the things Benn hated, relying on monetary policies, rather than
:31:02. > :31:12.increased state planning. Before long the unions were up in arms.
:31:13. > :31:19.About 1978 with Jim Callaghan as leader and Michael Foot as deputy
:31:20. > :31:23.leader. And with no majorit Tony Benn was acting on the basis that
:31:24. > :31:30.Labour would be defeated at the next election and he would be September
:31:31. > :31:35.to the leadership. By a Labour movement that insisted of having the
:31:36. > :31:39.determining right to decide who led the party. Although Benn was
:31:40. > :31:46.appalled that Britain had elected the most right-wing Tory leader in
:31:47. > :31:52.living memory, he found opposition surprisingly liberated. Politician
:31:53. > :31:56.Tony Benn, is signing copies of his latest book, arguments for
:31:57. > :32:00.socialism. He had resigned from the Shadow Cabinet immediately after the
:32:01. > :32:05.election, and enjoyed the freedom to speak and write about Labour's
:32:06. > :32:07.internal democracy, not least the excessive power of the party leader
:32:08. > :32:14.and the rejection of policies voted for by the party conference. I feel
:32:15. > :32:17.strongly that the degree of centralisation of power in the
:32:18. > :32:22.Labour Party, with the patronage put into the hand of one man is in
:32:23. > :32:27.ompatible with parliamentary democracy and unless the Labour
:32:28. > :32:30.Party is able to end personal patronage and introduce greater
:32:31. > :32:35.accountability, it wouldn't be able to fulfil its historic role as
:32:36. > :32:39.democratic party within a parliamentary democracy. Tony deeply
:32:40. > :32:44.believed in the idea of the accountability of Government to the
:32:45. > :32:47.party. Although I say he wasn't a communist, and he wasn't. That is
:32:48. > :32:53.fundamentally the Marxist belief that the Government is responsible
:32:54. > :32:57.to the party. My fundamental concept was that the Government is
:32:58. > :33:00.responsible to the people. So his whole pull was towards putting the
:33:01. > :33:04.parliamentary Labour Party under the control and authority of the
:33:05. > :33:07.National Executive Committee, which would have meant a party pushed well
:33:08. > :33:14.to the left, because that is where the NEC stood. The great showdown
:33:15. > :33:18.came in 1980 at the Labour conference, when the party debated
:33:19. > :33:23.Benn's plans to change the constitution. It turned tout to be
:33:24. > :33:28.an immensely bitter gathering. The atmosphere in the party was poison,
:33:29. > :33:31.people who used to go for a pint after the meeting wouldn't talk to
:33:32. > :33:37.each other. Everything was blamed on Benn. They said Tony for God's sake
:33:38. > :33:41.stop tingering with the party -- tinkering with the party, stop
:33:42. > :33:47.changing the rules, we don't care about the rule book or how many
:33:48. > :33:52.angels can dance on the pin. For God's sake tackle Thatcher, she's
:33:53. > :33:57.shutting the pits, attack her, don't waste time fiddling while Rome burns
:33:58. > :34:00.in rewriting the book of the Labour Party. Because Tony, that is not
:34:01. > :34:11.what we want. He still kept on doing it. In what he considered the best
:34:12. > :34:16.speech of his life, he listed all the promises the Labour Government
:34:17. > :34:20.had broken between 1974 and 1979. He went on to itemise the policies
:34:21. > :34:23.proposed by the trades unions which James Callaghan had allegedly
:34:24. > :34:30.refused to put into the party's election manifesto. Reflayings of
:34:31. > :34:35.public sector service spending ruled out, substantial cut in arms
:34:36. > :34:41.expenditure, ruled out, the immediate introduction of a wealth
:34:42. > :34:44.tax, ruled out. The imposition of selective import controls, ruled
:34:45. > :34:48.out. He was undoubtedly carried forward, to some extent, by the
:34:49. > :34:53.sheer excitement of his own capacity of to arouse tremendous popular
:34:54. > :34:58.feeling within the Labour Government among the activists. There was a
:34:59. > :35:02.kind of interplay between Tony and the activists. He communicated
:35:03. > :35:07.brilliantly, they responded emotionally and fiercely, and
:35:08. > :35:16.sometimes even aggressively. I think the thing drove him on. The
:35:17. > :35:23.sentiments that mobilised in his favour exists in the Labour Party
:35:24. > :35:29.and had been reinforced and remenished by interests from
:35:30. > :35:36.Trotskite elements. If he hadn't been there with his talent and
:35:37. > :35:44.background and his resolute course of action to articulate what they
:35:45. > :35:48.wanted and to give it respectability then it might have provoked some
:35:49. > :35:54.difficulties. It would have had to be dealt with, but it never would
:35:55. > :36:06.have become a source of potential disaster for the Labour Party. It is
:36:07. > :36:09.nonsense to suggest it is a Trotskite revolution. Those who made
:36:10. > :36:12.it knew it wasn't. They wanted to get him to conthem the Socialist
:36:13. > :36:22.Workers' Party or militant, because they were leading him into a trap,
:36:23. > :36:25.they wanted him to dignify the accusations they were making. The
:36:26. > :36:29.conference had been a triumph for the left over Callaghan's
:36:30. > :36:37.leadership. Nuclear disarment, and the withdrawal from the EEC were
:36:38. > :36:42.adopted as policy. And a special arrangement to debate the rules for
:36:43. > :36:45.electing party leaders. But James Callaghan suddenly resigned before
:36:46. > :36:49.that conference to take place. He was hoping MPs would elect Denis
:36:50. > :36:54.Healey, under the old rules. But they didn't. Instead they chose
:36:55. > :37:05.Michael Foot. The veteran left-winger as Labour leader. Benn
:37:06. > :37:10.and his supporters kept up their challenges that in future unions,
:37:11. > :37:21.party members and MPs would elect the party leadership. Roy gen. Ins
:37:22. > :37:33.and his gang of four were disgusted by Labour and left to form a new
:37:34. > :37:37.party, the SDP. Michael Foot and Denis Healey had an impossible task
:37:38. > :37:45.of keeping the Labour Party together. Wait until the press
:37:46. > :37:53.conference. By 1981 and his bizarre decision to run against Denis Healey
:37:54. > :37:57.for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. That was a personal
:37:58. > :38:02.ambition and it had become a substantive force. We are on the
:38:03. > :38:09.edge of disruption and disillusion. The extreme left infiltration. The
:38:10. > :38:17.insipient SDP's defection, all the things made the future of the party
:38:18. > :38:21.in the balance. Benn knew the unions held the key to any party victory
:38:22. > :38:24.with 40% of the new Electoral College, but he needed to convince
:38:25. > :38:31.the members so that they in turn would influence their masters. He
:38:32. > :38:35.took his message across the country. You have to have a socialist
:38:36. > :38:39.perfective. The word socialist is spat out by the media as if it is a
:38:40. > :38:44.disease. They get a picture, sometimes of me, with hands out and
:38:45. > :38:51.eyes open, "socialism" they say, and children are put to bed and mother
:38:52. > :38:55.has another Ovaltine and settles down to her novel from the Boots
:38:56. > :39:01.library, and people hope it will all go away. That is not how it is
:39:02. > :39:05.pronounced. It is a socialism. It is about trying to construct a society
:39:06. > :39:08.around production and need and not just for profit. It is around
:39:09. > :39:15.meeting people's needs, that is what it is about. The fact is, he was at
:39:16. > :39:20.the head of a broad popular movement, certainly within the
:39:21. > :39:23.Labour Party and those, the establishment of the party were a
:39:24. > :39:27.small minority, protected from the wrath of the members by the block
:39:28. > :39:35.votes of the trade union leaders which they shamelessly misused. In
:39:36. > :39:42.the other corner, Denis Healey was courting the right-wing union
:39:43. > :39:49.leaders, such as Frank Chapel. All our executive members here. That's
:39:50. > :39:52.right. It was the most intensive struggle for power that I have ever
:39:53. > :39:55.witnessed in the Labour Party. We had the entire establishment of the
:39:56. > :40:01.Labour Party, and they threw at us everything you could conceivably
:40:02. > :40:05.imagine. It was a very tough time. The voting took blaze on the first
:40:06. > :40:11.day of the Labour conference of 1981. For sheer drama it could
:40:12. > :40:15.hardly be bettered. Handful of votes turned out to be immensely
:40:16. > :40:18.significant for Labour's future. The final decision and I will say this
:40:19. > :40:35.now, the votes have been counted three times. Tony Benn, 49. #R5 74.
:40:36. > :40:42.-- 49. A 574. Denis Healey, 50. 426. If Tony Benn had defeated Denis
:40:43. > :40:52.Healey, he would have been then the most popular politician in the
:40:53. > :40:55.country. He knew that, he saw it in the newspapers and he was prepared
:40:56. > :41:00.to risk that for hubris, that is one of the things I hold against him.
:41:01. > :41:06.Labour's troubles were about to deepen, the militant steppedcy had
:41:07. > :41:11.taken over many branches. Leadership attempts to expel them were opposed
:41:12. > :41:15.by Tony Benn and allies. Tony Benn and others were using the machine in
:41:16. > :41:19.a way I thought was absolutely scandalous. We had every month a
:41:20. > :41:24.meeting of the national executive, which instead of being a might be of
:41:25. > :41:29.the executive of the party, was turned into an absolute gift to the
:41:30. > :41:33.Daily Mail and the Express and all the most bitter enemies. They had
:41:34. > :41:38.all the journalists outside waiting for the latest meeting of the
:41:39. > :41:47.national executive to feed the kind of stuff that suited them. I would
:41:48. > :41:51.say to people who moved in to try t hopefully it will lead to expulsions
:41:52. > :41:55.but it won't succeed. I would say to people at home, particularly good
:41:56. > :41:59.Labour people, don't worry they got rid of crooks and Bevan and thought
:42:00. > :42:05.they all came back f they get rid of anyone this time they will all be
:42:06. > :42:17.back don't worry. He didn't like tyranny at all, but he would see a
:42:18. > :42:23.side to the Trotski activists, people who needed rights too.
:42:24. > :42:25.Margaret Thatcher was by now the victor of the Falklands War and
:42:26. > :42:36.called an election the following year. Labour's campaign was
:42:37. > :42:41.disastrous, its manifesto was dubbed the longest suicide note in history.
:42:42. > :42:50.For Tony Benn boundaries meant he was standing in Bristol East, much
:42:51. > :42:53.of it new territory for him. Labour calling, Tony Benn is in the road
:42:54. > :42:59.now, come along and meet him. There was a huge amount at take for Benn
:43:00. > :43:02.in this campaign. Everyone knew as soon as the elections were out of
:43:03. > :43:05.the way there will be elections for the leader of the Labour Party. If
:43:06. > :43:09.he were out of parliament he wouldn't be available as a
:43:10. > :43:17.candidate. So I think it is actually a mark of his integrity that he
:43:18. > :43:44.chose to stay in Bristol and go down with the ship. Anthony Neil Wedgwood
:43:45. > :43:49.Benn, 18,055. Jonathan Saith 19,874. I here by Claire that Jonathan Said
:43:50. > :43:53.has been elected member for the constituency. I would like to thank
:43:54. > :43:57.the people of Bristol who over a third of a century have returned me
:43:58. > :44:03.to parliament, to say how glad I am I stayed. Since nothing but the
:44:04. > :44:10.defeat and decision of the people of Bristol would ever have induce
:44:11. > :44:14.immediate to leave this city. -- induced me to leave the city. Less
:44:15. > :44:18.than a year later Benn was back, flanked by the new party leader,
:44:19. > :44:22.Neil Kinnock. He had been elected as a Labour candidate for the mining
:44:23. > :44:39.town of Chesterfield. His old rival, Denis Healey, had also come to give
:44:40. > :44:46.him his support. Tony without Benn is like Torvill without Dean! After
:44:47. > :44:58.an unpleasant few weeks and a vicious press campaign, Benn won the
:44:59. > :45:03.seat. Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn, 24,733.
:45:04. > :45:08.# It's here we go # Here we go
:45:09. > :45:13.# All the women of the working-class Once again he found common cause
:45:14. > :45:20.with the nation's workers, as the miners' went on strike based on
:45:21. > :45:26.Thatcher's policies. I think she's a brutal woman, following policies of
:45:27. > :45:31.bash barrism which are impossible. I first met Benn during the Miners'
:45:32. > :45:38.Strike, and that was how I was politic sized. I was going up and
:45:39. > :45:42.doing gigs in the coalfields taking part in the demonstrations and there
:45:43. > :45:46.were platform speakers and Tony was prominent. He always seemed the most
:45:47. > :45:58.approachable of the whole generation of politicians. There were those who
:45:59. > :46:02.supported Scargill the leader of the unis and those who didn't support
:46:03. > :46:06.him. Benn supported Scargill. He was a man of principle, sometimes that
:46:07. > :46:13.became more important to him than the party. This was a battle Benn
:46:14. > :46:17.couldn't win. And the defeat of the miners only deepened the split in
:46:18. > :46:22.the Labour Party between the left and the right. Kinnock now decided
:46:23. > :46:26.to face down the left. But Benn continued to oppose him, not least
:46:27. > :46:30.on policies made popular by Mrs Thatcher, including the right of
:46:31. > :46:36.council tenants to buy their homes. Tony said in the course of the low,
:46:37. > :46:41.these are not the tenants' houses to buy. These are the communities'
:46:42. > :46:45.houses, I have to say to him, Tony, on the day when you start paying a
:46:46. > :46:50.mortgage or rent you will have some authority on the subject. Until then
:46:51. > :46:58.you have none. Let's have the vote. And we had the vote and won by one.
:46:59. > :47:03.It was incandescent at the superficiality and the patronising
:47:04. > :47:13.attitude that was voiced in good conscience by a decent man. But
:47:14. > :47:18.utterly misguided. Labour's third election defeat in a row game in
:47:19. > :47:22.1987, Kinnock was convinced the party hadn't changed enough. Benn
:47:23. > :47:26.was convinced it had changed far too much and now needed to return to
:47:27. > :47:30.unmistakenly socialist policies. The impression created now, and I will
:47:31. > :47:36.be blunt with you, is the Labour Party at the top is in panic-striken
:47:37. > :47:46.route and is anxious to say anything to pick up votes. They kept on
:47:47. > :47:49.making the same speeches like Barbra Streisand, they were be wonderful
:47:50. > :47:54.and everybody loved them but you don't want to keep putting on her
:47:55. > :48:03.records, and it became like that. People don't know what the Labour
:48:04. > :48:07.Party is about at all. Such was his anger that Tony Benn decided after
:48:08. > :48:16.some hesitation to challenge Kinnock for the leadership. He said to me
:48:17. > :48:22.when I vine invited him not to do that. He said all those who loved me
:48:23. > :48:27.said not to. You can add me to that list. We recognised we would be
:48:28. > :48:33.soundly beaten. And so he was, Kinnock and Hattersly trounces the
:48:34. > :48:37.others, years later he expressed contempt for the victor. I would
:48:38. > :48:41.have been utterly ashamed if I followed the course of Neil Kinnock,
:48:42. > :48:45.giving up everything I believed in to get the leadership and having
:48:46. > :48:50.done so nobody believed a word you said. Had no regrets, I made
:48:51. > :48:55.mistake, but they were mistakes made because I believed what I was saying
:48:56. > :48:59.at the time. Not because I was manoeuvring or manipulating a
:49:00. > :49:03.position for myself. I don't know how great the regrets were that he
:49:04. > :49:09.didn't do more. That the party he thought was the only one that could
:49:10. > :49:18.transform a society and its economy in a beneficial direction didn't
:49:19. > :49:22.have more purchase in his era. Margaret Thatcher so changed the
:49:23. > :49:33.terms of political debate that the left gave away so much ground all in
:49:34. > :49:39.a the rough. I know he felt that. Who would like the House of Lords?!
:49:40. > :49:42.By the time Tony Benn celebrated his 70th birthday, he was still
:49:43. > :49:55.campaigning on the issues that matter to him. Against the drift of
:49:56. > :49:59.the party. For Benn the advent of new Labour was another lurch to the
:50:00. > :50:09.right. It may have been electorally successful, but the concentration of
:50:10. > :50:13.power in the leadership was an neath ma anathema to him. When I look and
:50:14. > :50:18.new Labour, I wonder was it not trying to light a bonfire on a
:50:19. > :50:22.frozen late. Looking very nice but you melted away your own support.
:50:23. > :50:25.The man who once held the party conference in the calm of his hand
:50:26. > :50:30.now looked on from the sidelines. But he did manage to reach new
:50:31. > :50:47.audiences. So why do they call it the welfare state, is it because it
:50:48. > :50:52.is "welfare". We have -- well F air. Unemployment benefit is wicked, you
:50:53. > :50:56.get something for doing nothing. Why would you do nothing? You are
:50:57. > :51:00.chilling. This idea that if you are unemployed you are lazy, it is
:51:01. > :51:04.rubbish. I think that interview with Ali G did me more good with sixth
:51:05. > :51:09.formers than anything that has ever happened. They all enjoyed it all,
:51:10. > :51:15.so did I. Maximum respect gone out to my main man. Typically he took
:51:16. > :51:24.the whole episode in the best spirit. After 50 years at the heart
:51:25. > :51:29.of the Labour Party, personal tragedy brought him to stand down in
:51:30. > :51:33.2001. His wife Caroline fell ill with cancer, they made the decision
:51:34. > :51:43.to try to enjoy every remaining moment. He phoned me up and usually
:51:44. > :51:47.he's not someone to talk about personal things. He was on for 40
:51:48. > :51:56.minutes talking about the devastation of her condition and her
:51:57. > :52:00.illness. He was broken hearted. She taught me how to live and how to
:52:01. > :52:05.die. And you cannot ask any more of anyone than that. Loving, caring,
:52:06. > :52:12.thoughtful, critical, when necessary, always understanding and
:52:13. > :52:15.always forgiving. To have had the good fortune and privilege of living
:52:16. > :52:20.with her and learning from her for so long made her the centre piece of
:52:21. > :52:28.my life and the life of all my family. We discussed my decision --
:52:29. > :52:32.We discussed my decision not to stand again for Chesterfield before
:52:33. > :52:38.she died, it was her suggestion that I should explain it and say I was
:52:39. > :52:46.giving up parliament to devote for time to politics. He found no
:52:47. > :52:49.greater cause in later life than the coalition against the war in Iraq,
:52:50. > :53:00.he was there among the record crowds in London in 200 #. 3. Please give
:53:01. > :53:08.the warmest welcome for Tony Benn. Friends, we are here today to found
:53:09. > :53:17.a new political movement, worldwide. The biggest demonstration ever in
:53:18. > :53:21.Britain, the first global demonstration and the first cause is
:53:22. > :53:26.to prevent a war against Iraq. Benn took his antiwar campaign right into
:53:27. > :53:36.Baghdad. Where he met Saddam Hussein, just a few weeks before the
:53:37. > :53:43.allied invasion. Iraq featured frequently in his hugely popular
:53:44. > :53:48.one-man show. And Benn found himself treated as a political sage. I think
:53:49. > :53:53.democracy is a do it yourself business. There was a Chinese
:53:54. > :53:55.philosopher I read about who lived many years before the birth of
:53:56. > :54:00.Christ. He was asked about leadership, and this is what he
:54:01. > :54:14.said, he said "as to the best leaders, the people do not notice
:54:15. > :54:18.their existence, and that is what we need". The audiences were Laura
:54:19. > :54:25.Ashley, you could see them thinking, he has a point. A lot of them were
:54:26. > :54:32.nowhere near him in his politics, but he was extraordinary like that.
:54:33. > :54:36.When I do my diary overnight as I do, I am so depressed by the papers
:54:37. > :54:40.that I can't think, and sometimes when I consider the possibilities at
:54:41. > :54:46.our disposal, I get so thrilled that I wonder if it is good if someone at
:54:47. > :54:55.nigh age can get as excited as I do. Thank you very much indeed.
:54:56. > :55:01.The politicians politician is... Hillary Benn. Seeing son Hillary
:55:02. > :55:06.respected by opponents and promoted to cabinet rank gave Tony Benn
:55:07. > :55:10.enormous pleasure, this was the fourth generation of Benns in
:55:11. > :55:15.parliament, and the third at the cabinet table. This ises had moment,
:55:16. > :55:34.can I say a word about him, he's only 52 and I'm going to give him a
:55:35. > :55:39.hug. Welcome to Leftfield and we're very pleased to have Tony with us.
:55:40. > :55:47.He has been almost... . My abiding memory will be how he wowed the
:55:48. > :55:51.crowds at glassedry. Reputation -- Glastonbury. His reputation seemed
:55:52. > :55:55.to transcend the generations. I don't protest I demand what we want.
:55:56. > :55:58.It is clear someone like him wouldn't find place in contemporary
:55:59. > :56:02.politics. But he found a place in the heart of the British people and
:56:03. > :56:08.I think that's sort of like casting a poor light on the way we do
:56:09. > :56:12.politic today. Please give real Trafalgar Square welcome to Tony
:56:13. > :56:16.Benn. Despite failing health, Benn, ever the politician, refused to keep
:56:17. > :56:22.quiet and carried on campaigning throughout his retirement. Comrades
:56:23. > :56:26.this is a very remarkable occasion, never forget that the British Labour
:56:27. > :56:37.movement has always been in favour of peace.
:56:38. > :56:40.As a member of the human race, it is as members of the human race we need
:56:41. > :56:46.to respond. I believe the inspiration he gave us will allow us
:56:47. > :56:56.to do just that. I express my deepest gratitude to him and all
:56:57. > :56:59.those who work with him. By the end of his life Tony Benn had become the
:57:00. > :57:03.voice of the nation's conscience, hugely admired for his principles in
:57:04. > :57:10.a way he never managed as a politician. I think British politics
:57:11. > :57:20.would have been different,s and most of the time poorer. Without Tony
:57:21. > :57:27.Benn. For me it would have been rather easier and more convenient.
:57:28. > :57:31.He will be remembered by people who take politics seriously as the
:57:32. > :57:34.totally irresponsible. He had no consistent view of what policy
:57:35. > :57:40.should be, he was immensely concerned with his own image and
:57:41. > :57:43.status. He was a bad team player and probably more than anybody else
:57:44. > :57:53.responsible for peopling the Labour Party out of Government between 1979
:57:54. > :57:56.and 1997. No-one can take away from him the extraordinary impact and
:57:57. > :58:02.galvanising effect he had on the party and the country to some extent
:58:03. > :58:09.in the 1970s and early 80s. He was an inspirational figure who might,
:58:10. > :58:17.had he been elected leader, have changed the tide of British
:58:18. > :58:21.politics. I'm pretty convinced that Tony Benn thought to his dying day,
:58:22. > :58:26.that what he believed motivated people and what mattered to
:58:27. > :58:30.societies would prevail. He was a prophet as much as politician. Just
:58:31. > :58:32.think how much the poorer the national British political
:58:33. > :58:37.conversation would have been without him. From 1950 right to the moment
:58:38. > :59:00.he died. And you can't say that of many people.