1
00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:06,839
Tony Ben who has died at the age of 88

2
00:00:04,359 --> 00:00:10,559
was the greatest prime minister Britain

3
00:00:06,839 --> 00:00:13,599
never had the greatest labor leader that

4
00:00:10,559 --> 00:00:16,640
labor never had although he came very

5
00:00:13,599 --> 00:00:19,400
close actually to being the leader of

6
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:24,000
the labor party in

7
00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:27,480
1981 he came within 1% of becoming the

8
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:30,119
deputy leader of the party and the

9
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:33,719
elderly leader Michael Fu would soon

10
00:00:30,119 --> 00:00:36,800
think have made way for him it was an

11
00:00:33,719 --> 00:00:40,200
epic campaign in which I was the

12
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,000
Scottish organizer I was a labor party

13
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:45,039
official at the time and the chairman of

14
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:48,239
the labor party in Scotland and Mr Ben

15
00:00:45,039 --> 00:00:51,520
rang me up to consult me before deciding

16
00:00:48,239 --> 00:00:55,800
to run and I wholeheartedly supported

17
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:58,239
him then as now Tony Ben was quite

18
00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:01,920
simply the finest exponent of the

19
00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:06,040
Socialist case the socialist idea in the

20
00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:10,400
entirety of the 20th century and on into

21
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:13,560
the 21st he was without peer as a

22
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:15,080
speaker as a thinker as a writer as a

23
00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,280
diarist as a

24
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:20,840
communicator uh there was

25
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:23,720
nobody in the whole country like him he

26
00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:28,159
could Captivate huge audiences in the

27
00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:30,479
pal of his hand with the most powerful

28
00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:34,560
incredibly visionary

29
00:01:30,479 --> 00:01:37,680
ideas of alternatives to what we have

30
00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:40,759
and what we had and he'd always in a way

31
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:43,799
been like that I first grew to love him

32
00:01:40,759 --> 00:01:46,399
in the 1960s I grew up in a labor

33
00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:49,119
household where Harold Wilson was the

34
00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:51,840
son and a constellation of stars were

35
00:01:49,119 --> 00:01:54,360
around him really big stars Barbara

36
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:57,600
Castle Roy Jenkins Tony Crossland

37
00:01:54,360 --> 00:02:01,159
Richard Crossman James cigan uh many

38
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:03,479
others maybe 10 in the Wilson cabinet

39
00:02:01,159 --> 00:02:06,799
could have become Prime Minister in the

40
00:02:03,479 --> 00:02:09,679
afternoon should they have been needed

41
00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:12,040
but of them all Tony Ben was always the

42
00:02:09,679 --> 00:02:15,599
most Innovative the most Progressive the

43
00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:18,920
most dynamic the most inspiring uh of

44
00:02:15,599 --> 00:02:20,519
those stars at least in my household and

45
00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:22,400
when I first met him at the labor

46
00:02:20,519 --> 00:02:27,959
conference in Blackpool in

47
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:31,640
1974 so 40 years ago uh I told him so

48
00:02:27,959 --> 00:02:35,319
and we became close uh from that day uh

49
00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:38,200
until his last day uh I worked with him

50
00:02:35,319 --> 00:02:40,840
as I said in the great epic Deputy

51
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:44,159
leadership campaign uh of which he was

52
00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:47,879
cheated by the way only by the very

53
00:02:44,159 --> 00:02:50,000
powerful super votes of a group of

54
00:02:47,879 --> 00:02:52,560
members of parliament who cast their

55
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:56,400
vote against Mr Ben and then promptly

56
00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:58,480
defected from the labor party to the sdp

57
00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:02,440
which then kept Mrs thater in power for

58
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:05,879
a decade and and now sits in David

59
00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:09,000
Cameron's Tory cabinet so in fact Mr Ben

60
00:03:05,879 --> 00:03:11,519
was cheated of the Deputy leadership and

61
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:15,239
thus the leadership of the labor party

62
00:03:11,519 --> 00:03:17,560
by traitors to the very idea of Labor

63
00:03:15,239 --> 00:03:20,080
there was also a a rather significant

64
00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:22,519
Schism opened at that time with what

65
00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:26,440
were called the soft left people like

66
00:03:22,519 --> 00:03:29,840
Neil kinnick and the late Robin Cook who

67
00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:33,400
backed an alternative no hope candidate

68
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,680
just in order to divide Mr Ben's votes

69
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:39,200
and they succeeded though by the very

70
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:42,040
narrowest of margins the STP got their

71
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:44,599
30 pieces of silver by sitting in

72
00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:47,560
Cameron's Tory government Neil kinnick

73
00:03:44,599 --> 00:03:51,239
is now an establishment clown in the

74
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:54,640
House of Lords he did his bit too if Mr

75
00:03:51,239 --> 00:03:57,840
Ben had won the labor leadership it's

76
00:03:54,640 --> 00:04:00,920
almost impossible now to imagine what

77
00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:03,239
might have been possible Mr Ben would

78
00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:06,400
have withdrawn Britain from NATO

79
00:04:03,239 --> 00:04:09,159
withdrawn us from the European economic

80
00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:13,079
community on Democratic grounds rather

81
00:04:09,159 --> 00:04:15,439
than on any xenophobic ones he was no

82
00:04:13,079 --> 00:04:18,000
uker he would have nationalized the

83
00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:20,560
banks the pharmaceutical companies the

84
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,960
great commanding Heights of the British

85
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:26,120
economy he would have introduced workers

86
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:29,240
control into their lives he would have

87
00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:32,720
put all that Progressive dynamism that

88
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:35,360
he had displayed since the 1960s into

89
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:38,680
practice now of course if he had become

90
00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:41,440
the labor leader 1981 or

91
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:44,880
1982 we might have lost the next general

92
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,639
election but then we did anyway we might

93
00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:50,000
have lost the general election after

94
00:04:46,639 --> 00:04:53,039
that under Mr Ben's leadership but then

95
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,360
we did anyway we might even have lost

96
00:04:53,039 --> 00:04:59,080
the general election after that under Mr

97
00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:01,800
Ben's leadership but then we did anyway

98
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:05,919
the point is we might not have lost them

99
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:09,160
because we would have had at our head

100
00:05:05,919 --> 00:05:11,639
the most convincing advocate of the

101
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:14,280
Socialist idea of the alternative

102
00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:15,639
society that the British labor movement

103
00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:18,759
ever

104
00:05:15,639 --> 00:05:21,479
produced due to boundary changes Mr Ben

105
00:05:18,759 --> 00:05:23,840
lost his seat in Parliament in 1983 but

106
00:05:21,479 --> 00:05:26,440
he was quickly back in the minor

107
00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:29,240
Heartland in darbishire in Chesterfield

108
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,360
and he remained a towering Majestic

109
00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,479
figure

110
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:35,880
in Parliament and well beyond it uh

111
00:05:33,479 --> 00:05:39,639
until he decided to give up parliament

112
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:42,440
in 2001 in order to spend more time on

113
00:05:39,639 --> 00:05:44,639
politics he wrote wonderful Diaries

114
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:47,360
wonderful books gave wonderful

115
00:05:44,639 --> 00:05:49,440
broadcasts made really significant

116
00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:52,240
television interventions like the time

117
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,960
when after the BBC had refused to

118
00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:57,479
broadcast the disasters emergency

119
00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,319
committee appeal for the suffering

120
00:05:57,479 --> 00:06:02,960
people in Gaza under Israeli bombardment

121
00:06:00,319 --> 00:06:04,919
Mr Ben went on their news program and

122
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:08,599
simply read out the address of the

123
00:06:04,919 --> 00:06:12,599
appeal and made that appeal himself he

124
00:06:08,599 --> 00:06:15,400
was of course and died as the honorary

125
00:06:12,599 --> 00:06:18,160
president of the stop the war Coalition

126
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:22,039
which he led from the beginning and

127
00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:25,560
which became the most significant and

128
00:06:22,039 --> 00:06:28,560
certainly the very biggest by far mass

129
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:32,800
movement ever in British political

130
00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:34,520
history he was a great family man I have

131
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,840
a picture of him he published it in one

132
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:40,599
of his Diaries of him holding my baby

133
00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:43,039
daughter in his arms she's now a mother

134
00:06:40,599 --> 00:06:46,000
of four and he posed for pictures with

135
00:06:43,039 --> 00:06:50,120
all of her children too he loved

136
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:53,360
children he was kindly honorable decent

137
00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,479
he was a real gentleman if you can

138
00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,879
imagine that kindly Old Gentleman who

139
00:06:55,479 --> 00:07:00,039
sat at the back of the train waving his

140
00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:03,000
handkerchief to the kids on the

141
00:07:00,039 --> 00:07:05,599
Bank by the railway in the movie The

142
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:10,120
Railway children that was Tony Ben he

143
00:07:05,599 --> 00:07:12,720
was a kindly gentleman he was a

144
00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:16,199
quintessentially British socialist

145
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:19,120
figure of the very very best kind the

146
00:07:16,199 --> 00:07:21,800
top drawer many people think he was an

147
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:24,560
aristocrat he was not in fact an

148
00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:27,840
aristocrat although he inherited and

149
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:31,280
skewed a VI County his father had been

150
00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:34,919
given that peage uh as a liberal

151
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:37,520
politician uh albeit a hereditary peage

152
00:07:34,919 --> 00:07:40,039
that Mr Ben changed the British

153
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:43,000
constitution in order to be allowed to

154
00:07:40,039 --> 00:07:45,080
continue to serve in the House of

155
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,000
Commons which he did with such

156
00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:50,560
distinction when he rose to speak on a

157
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:53,120
platform or on his feet in the House of

158
00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:55,840
Commons you could have heard a pin drop

159
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:59,680
they never was anybody better and we'll

160
00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:02,360
be very lucky if there ever is anybody

161
00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:05,599
better he was not an aristocrat but he

162
00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:09,759
was a prince amongst men and though he's

163
00:08:05,599 --> 00:08:12,759
mourn today uh by some Hypocrites who

164
00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:15,159
are very careful to make clear that they

165
00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:19,720
don't agree didn't agree with many of

166
00:08:15,159 --> 00:08:22,599
his views in truth Mr Ben's views are

167
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:25,240
shared and were supported by the great

168
00:08:22,599 --> 00:08:27,759
majority of the British people working

169
00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:30,159
backwards Mr Ben was the leader of the

170
00:08:27,759 --> 00:08:32,919
campaign against the war in Iraq

171
00:08:30,159 --> 00:08:35,399
the vast majority of people in Britain

172
00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:37,760
were against it too he believed in

173
00:08:35,399 --> 00:08:41,200
public ownership of gas and electricity

174
00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:44,200
and Railway and post the vast majority

175
00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:46,519
of British people uh feel exactly the

176
00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:49,720
same way he hated the corruption and

177
00:08:46,519 --> 00:08:52,480
undemocratic nature of today's European

178
00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:55,519
Union most British people agree with

179
00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:59,480
that too he hated nuclear weapons he

180
00:08:55,519 --> 00:09:04,240
hated our alliance with NATO uh with

181
00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:07,399
with its um unquenchable thirst for war

182
00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:10,000
after war after War most British people

183
00:09:07,399 --> 00:09:11,519
share that view too he didn't much like

184
00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,680
the House of Lords which is why he

185
00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:17,480
fought so hard against going into that

186
00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:20,399
good night and most British people feel

187
00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:23,040
that way too yet he managed to express

188
00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:26,120
all of these views in the teeth of

189
00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:28,480
unbelievable media hostility if you want

190
00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,920
to if you want there if you want to

191
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,640
remember what the media hostility to

192
00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,360
Tony Ben was when he was really

193
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:39,279
challenging for power as opposed to

194
00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:41,720
today now that he's safely gone think

195
00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:44,160
Arthur scargle think Ken Livingston

196
00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:47,440
think Bob Crow put them all together and

197
00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:50,240
double it or trible it that's how bad it

198
00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:53,000
was whole pages of serious newspapers

199
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:57,360
were given over in

200
00:09:53,000 --> 00:10:01,000
1981 to tell us in the words of cod

201
00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:04,399
psychologists how Tony B was literally

202
00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:07,640
insane and yet the people never believed

203
00:10:04,399 --> 00:10:08,800
it I remember one incident in particular

204
00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:11,000
in

205
00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,760
1981 I was traveling all over the

206
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,640
country with him we stopped in a

207
00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:17,920
Motorway service station after a great

208
00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:21,360
meeting in Liverpool at the St George's

209
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:24,800
Hall the night before first everybody in

210
00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:26,519
the cafeteria came over to greet him in

211
00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,320
those days there were no camera phones

212
00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:31,959
so every person had to get a very time

213
00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:34,240
consuming autograph then out of the

214
00:10:31,959 --> 00:10:37,839
kitchens wearing their aprons and their

215
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:41,000
Chef's hats came all of the workers in

216
00:10:37,839 --> 00:10:43,320
the service station then people seeing

217
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,000
this kafuffle going on started to come

218
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,519
in from the petrol station for court

219
00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,240
abandoning their vehicles in order to do

220
00:10:48,519 --> 00:10:54,920
so then Tony got up on a chair and made

221
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:58,600
an impromptu speech it felt like a

222
00:10:54,920 --> 00:11:02,480
revolution and maybe it could have been

223
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:05,160
just at the of his campaign for power uh

224
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:08,639
Mr Ben was struck down with a very

225
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:11,760
obscure syndrome called the Gan bar

226
00:11:08,639 --> 00:11:14,079
syndrome which sent him to his bed for

227
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,680
crucial weeks during the campaign

228
00:11:14,079 --> 00:11:19,560
affected his nervous system left him

229
00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:22,440
shaky on the legs for the rest of his

230
00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:25,399
life it was suspicious to those of us

231
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:28,279
close to him at the time and frankly

232
00:11:25,399 --> 00:11:31,320
it's suspicious now especially what we

233
00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:34,480
now suspect about what happened to Hugo

234
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:37,279
Chavez Fidel Castro uh president

235
00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:39,880
Kirchner of Argentina and other

236
00:11:37,279 --> 00:11:43,160
left-wing leaders but that's a story

237
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:46,200
perhaps for another day it is the

238
00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:49,120
greatest of the many privileges of my

239
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:52,279
life that I was a lieutenant of the

240
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:55,399
great Tony Ben that I marched with him

241
00:11:52,279 --> 00:11:58,440
that I helped to sustain his epic

242
00:11:55,399 --> 00:11:59,800
challenge for a different Britain and a

243
00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,880
different world

244
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:06,279
he was a prince among men and in the

245
00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:10,120
words of Shakespeare he was a man take

246
00:12:06,279 --> 00:12:12,639
him for all in all I shall not look upon

247
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:17,160
his like again Tony

248
00:12:12,639 --> 00:12:17,160
Ben I salute you