Love him or hate him, there was no denying he was a man who stood by his convictions and a great orator.
We have lost two fighters for socialism this week. I was privileged to have met Tony Benn on more than one occasion.He was and always will be a hero of mine. RIP Bob Crowe & Tony Benn
I never met him to talk to, but have seen him a few times when he has made speeches and he never failed to inspire me.
I met him coincidently on the Express Train to London in 1986. Me and a mate were off to a concert and got cheapo mid Thursday afternoon tickets with a fake Student Railcard. It was amazing, he was ****ing amazing. We sat down in a window seat, table and all, with our coffee and paraphernalia, then as I was about to sit down and there was Tony Benn who removed the reserve ticket and asked us if we minded sitting with him, such was the charm and humility of the man. My first thought was '**** me, it's Tony Ben!' ...obviously and then it occured to me, he hadn't shaved that day and he had a bit of stubble, it really struck me as it was a contast to the image I'd always seen on the box. He then started talking to us and took genuine interest in where we were going, youth culture/concerts/ our respective degrees/tales of post education employment or otherwise. He was every bit as sparkling and witty and funny as you would imagine him to be. I feel honoured, humbled and priveleged to this day. I think he was the quintessential English Statesman; erudite, accomplished, charming and witty. We should celebrate a magnificent life imho.
His politics were a bit left for me (I'm pretty centre, with a few beliefs either way), but he was, above all, an HONEST politician. That is something very rare these days. In fact, the only other one I can think of is Dennis Skinner (another lefty). The rest of them are cnuts of varying degrees of slipperiness. RIP Wedgie Benn
I met the man briefly in 1982, a gentleman definitely, his politics were not for me but I admired his belief in what he was all about and what he wanted to achieve. Top man and I recommend anyone to listen to his final interview last November on Radio 2. RIP Tony & the country will get there one day..
A good man and an honest politician who actually cared. Can you name a current politician who would fit this description?
He appears to have been a genuinely decent and good man. He always had time to stop and talk to anyone, and took a real interest in people. But his politics were right out there on utopian fantasy island. Never agreed with a word he said but was almost always interesting to listen to, even if it annoyed the crap out of me.
A fine man and an excellent orator, whose convictions were sadly too idealistic for the desperately pragmatic and cynical English.
