MakemineVanilla Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 RIP,one of the goodies! Also the only person that rumbled Ali G during his original 'Eleven O'Clock Show' run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Khj7ZHMSo Very good but I do wish they had had the the courage to do without the laugh track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer1 Posted March 14, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2014 One of the few politicians I had respect for. RIP Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Immensely principled in his beliefs, which defined that testing cold war period of history. Like him or not, when his name was mentioned, you knew the man and his politics. I personally found him a little too driven, but then I think by the end of the seventies there was a wind of change blowing anyway and a new age was dawning, but he had already more than chiselled his name in the British political stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Helped keep Labour out of power in the 1980s, so we should be grateful for that if nothing else. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 RIP Tony Benn, his views became increasingly far far to moderate for the extremists that occupy Westminster. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Anthony Posted March 14, 2014 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted March 14, 2014 He was the rarest of animals, a politician with integrity. May he rest in peace. With a pipe and a cup of tea. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post PaulC Posted March 14, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted March 14, 2014 May have been born into wealth but he cared about the right people unlike Cameron and Osbourne. A man of conviction and a true lefty. He will be sadly missed RIP 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post markavfc40 Posted March 14, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted March 14, 2014 (edited) May have been born into wealth but he cared about the right people unlike Cameron and Osbourne. A man of conviction and a true lefty. He will be sadly missed RIP Says it all for me. Some cracking posts in this thread most of which show the man the high level of respect he so very much deserves. Those that don't say far more about the person posting than they do about Tony Benn. RIP Tony. One of the last of a very rare breed of politicians. Edited March 14, 2014 by markavfc40 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Makes you wonder what on earth happened to politicians, when all we are left with are vacuous, X-Factor numpties. R.I.P. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Makes you wonder what on earth happened to politicians, when all we are left with are vacuous, X-Factor numpties. R.I.P. Picture the opening scene of The Terminator - skulls being crushed underfoot in a world run by machine politics. This is where we find ourselves in the post-apocalyptic world of disaster capitalism, where there is no place for idealism; survival amongst the wreckage is the only realistic option left. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Didn't agree with him on very much at all but I can at least respect his character. Politics could do with more people like him on both sides - would makes things a lot more interesting. R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Listening to a full-on posh type expound socialist views was a bit of a revelation for this colonial. I suppose he could afford it, but his heart was in the right place and I respected him. RIP Tony Benn. Some facts from Wikipedia (where else?): Vegetarian since the 70's As a young boy he met Gandhi, since his father was Secretary for India. Margaret Rutherford, the actress, was a cousin. The smaller queen's head on postage stamps was his work, although he proposed doing away with it altogether. A passenger on the last Concord flight, as a guest of the BBC (he had contributed to its development). Most nobly of all, his workers' co-operative initiative is credited with keeping Triumph motorcycles in production until 1983. A few facts from the BBC 1. British stamp design. As Postmaster General from 1964-6, the republican Benn wanted to permit the introduction of "non-traditional" designs - of landscapes, portraits of composers and so on - without the Queen's head, but he faced resistance from Buckingham Palace. The compromise that resulted from his campaign - a small cameo silhouette in the corner of pictorial stamps - can still be seen to this day. 2. The postcode system. Since the late 1950s, the Post Office had been trialling a method of six-digit alphanumeric codes to sort mail in the Norwich area. In October 1965, under Benn's watch as Postmaster General, the Post Office announced it would extend the system to the rest of the country. Benn also oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, now the BT Tower. 3. BBC Radio 1. Benn introduced the 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act that closed down the pirate radio stations which were transmitting offshore around the coast of Britain. The legislation made it almost impossible for the likes of Radio Caroline to keep going and paved the way for the launch of Radio 1 in September of the same year. 4. E in Concorde. As minister of technology from 1966-70, Benn was responsible for the development of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner. Others can take credit for designing and building it, but Benn successfully resisted Treasury efforts to cancel it because of spiralling costs. He also restored the letter "e" to the project's name, which had been removed by former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan after a falling out with Charles de Gaulle. "E stands for excellence, for England, for Europe and for the entente cordiale," Benn said. 5. The rucksack with a built-in seat. Long a keen amateur inventor - he bolted a chair onto the roof of a car for his 1970 election campaign - Benn proudly showed off his creation, the "frontbencher", at the age of 83. "I was carrying around a stool and a rucksack and thought it would better if I put them together," he said. Less successful than his other innovations, he offered Sir Richard Branson the opportunity to manufacture it, but the tycoon turned him down. He also had plans to save British Leyland but unfortunately they were never put to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 He also had plans to save British Leyland but unfortunately they were never put to use. Viability may have had something to do with that decision. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Heard him speak a couple of years ago. Even in his eighties he was a tremendous orator. His final message was that every generation has to refight the struggles that previous generations have fought. Have to say, in today's world those words were never truer. RIP Tony, and where's my tin hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Avenue Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Anyone have him in the sweep ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 I wonder who is going to live in number 52 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 seemed to be a firm believer in what he fought for even if in my view he was wrong. However I wish more politicians had their own beliefs and stuck to them. So I admire him for that RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 May have been born into wealth but he cared about the right people unlike Cameron and Osbourne. A man of conviction and a true lefty. He will be sadly missed RIP Says it all for me. Some cracking posts in this thread most of which show the man the high level of respect he so very much deserves. Those that don't say far more about the person posting than they do about Tony Benn. RIP Tony. One of the last of a very rare breed of politicians. That's a bit naughty considering the posts in the Margaret Thatcher thread 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Bye Tony. How amusing to see the vile creatures like Rifkind, Cameron and Blair trying to frame some suitably nuanced, slightly respectful words which in no way reflect their hatred of and fear for the ideas you spent your life promoting. Pathetic oafs. Self-serving publicity, as usual. Their hypocritical kowtowing is a recognition of the power of ideas, nothing at all with respect for the dead. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post markavfc40 Posted March 15, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2014 May have been born into wealth but he cared about the right people unlike Cameron and Osbourne. A man of conviction and a true lefty. He will be sadly missed RIP Says it all for me. Some cracking posts in this thread most of which show the man the high level of respect he so very much deserves. Those that don't say far more about the person posting than they do about Tony Benn. RIP Tony. One of the last of a very rare breed of politicians. That's a bit naughty considering the posts in the Margaret Thatcher thread Your comparing chalk with cheese. Thatcher was an evil cow who ruined millions of people lives, destroyed communities and much like the Tories of today was very much for the few at the expense of the many. She warranted no respect. Plenty of people may not have agreed with some of Tony Benns views but no one could dispute that Benns intentions were good and he wanted a fairer society for all and a more equal distribution of wealth. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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