I've delayed this because I was rounded on social media for even briefly celebrating the return of the Stansgate viscountcy three weeks ago. Hopefully the dust has settled. Tony Benn is still dead; there is still a Viscount Stansgate again (it's his eldest son). And, hopefully, all those people who didn't really like Tony Benn now feel a bit silly for lauding him to the heights.
Because everyone (and I mean everyone, with the noble exceptions of Matthew Paris) fell over themselves to praise him. And I don't really know why. Now, I'm sure Tony Benn was personally lovely. His diaries make him out to be so, though he did write them himself. And he was certainly a fine example of the the benefits of a good education (Westminster. A fact he tried, despite his legendary 'integrity', to have removed from Who's Who) and a constant desire to document and make sense of the world.
Because everyone (and I mean everyone, with the noble exceptions of Matthew Paris) fell over themselves to praise him. And I don't really know why. Now, I'm sure Tony Benn was personally lovely. His diaries make him out to be so, though he did write them himself. And he was certainly a fine example of the the benefits of a good education (Westminster. A fact he tried, despite his legendary 'integrity', to have removed from Who's Who) and a constant desire to document and make sense of the world.
But he was wrong, about everything, and - for his party - wrong in a disastrous way.
I find it curious that the left lined up to bang on about how wonderful he was, when the only people who should celebrate his political career are the right. Benn was a, if not the, key facilitator of Thatcher's dominance. He was one of the major figures on the Labour left - a candidate for the deputy leadership (he lost), a potential leader - and he dragged the party leftwards into appalling places. His own politics by then were actively crazy: he wanted to nationalise everything (this was when the Government owned Pickford's), leave the EU, and forcibly reunite Ireland. They sound mad now; they sounded pretty mad then. And as a result, the party split, the vote collapsed, Thatcher got three terms, and in desperation, Labour jettisoned some decent elements alongside all the mad. If you were feeling uncharitable, you might make a direct link from Benn to New Labour. He would have hated that.
I find it curious that the left lined up to bang on about how wonderful he was, when the only people who should celebrate his political career are the right. Benn was a, if not the, key facilitator of Thatcher's dominance. He was one of the major figures on the Labour left - a candidate for the deputy leadership (he lost), a potential leader - and he dragged the party leftwards into appalling places. His own politics by then were actively crazy: he wanted to nationalise everything (this was when the Government owned Pickford's), leave the EU, and forcibly reunite Ireland. They sound mad now; they sounded pretty mad then. And as a result, the party split, the vote collapsed, Thatcher got three terms, and in desperation, Labour jettisoned some decent elements alongside all the mad. If you were feeling uncharitable, you might make a direct link from Benn to New Labour. He would have hated that.
And I don't think he ever realised it either. He had more self-awareness than most: in his later years, when called to explain the affection with which he was held, he used to say that he was 'harmless now'. That was definitely true, but he was also irrelevant, and I don't think he appreciated that. His facile quip in 2001 that he was 'leaving parliament in order to spend more time on politics' is revealing. He didn't spend more time on politics - he went on lecture tours. His audiences loved it; I suspect he did too. It did nothing, though I imagine it made everyone involved feel warm inside.
On one level, the obits were right. He will be missed; he was erudite, charming and he had conviction - all probably only possible because he lost. But without him, the Labour party would have been in better shape in the 1980s and I venture the country would be in better shape now. That's not a legacy to be proud of.
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