Aye, but Been stood for the Deputy Leader post against Healy knowing full well it would split the party and show the divisions which the Tory party utilised to great effect for the best part of 20 years (Loony Left). It should also be noted that he acted on behalf of Blair in the 2005 election and spent many hours phoning ex-Labour votes to get them back after the Iraq war scandal.
I did at one point http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/74440-Best-PM-We-Never-Had?p=1019181&viewfull=1#post1019181 I went to see him give a talk in a local theatre last year and he was a bit gone at the game, which ruined the magic a bit for me. What ruined the magic even more was I bought his book after the show (he signed it for me!) and then I realised I didn't actually agree with half of the stuff he had written.
I remember Mr Benn. He was the guy that had many different adventures every time he went into the mysterious costume hire shop. He will be sadly missed.
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. ... or at least play the Ali G interview every year on this day for ever and ever.
Who can forget the episode where the millionaire son of the landed gentry turned into a raging socialist man of the people ? Bit far fetched rhat wan . The astronaut wan was good though .
Mr Benn lost all feasibility when he dressed as a caveman and visited the Jurassic period. Other than that, it was first rate entertainment.
There is only one Mr Benn [video=youtube;mFdO6GM0nv8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFdO6GM0nv8[/video]
