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81-651: The Alternative Economic Strategy ( AES ) is the name of an economic programme proposed by Tony Benn , a dissident member of the British Labour Party , during the 1970s and 1980s. The Secretary of State for Industry in the Labour government, Tony Benn , wrote a paper for his Department in January 1975, which he described in his diary: "It described Strategy A which is the Government of national unity,

162-420: A "radical political importance" on his life, and made a distinction between the historical Jesus as "a carpenter of Nazareth" who advocated social justice and egalitarianism and "the way in which he's presented by some religious authorities; by popes, archbishops and bishops who present Jesus as justification for their power", believing this to be a gross misunderstanding of the role of Jesus. He believed that it

243-778: A "siege economy" but the difference is that in the monetarist course "you will have the bankers with you and the British people, the trade unions, outside the citadel storming you; with mine it will be the other way round". However the Cabinet rejected the AES (along with two other proposals) on 1/2 December and accepted the terms for a loan from the International Monetary Fund on 12 December. Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as The Viscount Stansgate ,

324-530: A Conservative Association meeting, in opposition to Harold Wilson 's insistence on not "stirring up the Powell issue", Benn said during the 1970 general election campaign: The flag of racialism which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over Dachau and Belsen . If we do not speak up now against the filthy and obscene racialist propaganda ...

405-401: A ballot was needed for a strike or whether it could be deemed as a "regional matter" in the same way that the 1977 reforms had been. Benn also spoke at a Militant tendency rally held in 1984, saying: "The labour movement is not engaged in a personalised battle against individual cabinet ministers, nor do we seek to win public support by arguing that the crisis could be ended by the election of

486-535: A debate in the Commons just after the Falklands were recaptured, Benn's demand for "a full analysis of the costs in life, equipment and money in this tragic and unnecessary war" was rejected by Margaret Thatcher , who stated that "he would not enjoy the freedom of speech that he put to such excellent use unless people had been prepared to fight for it". For the 1983 election Benn's Bristol South East constituency

567-671: A feminist writer, and Joshua—and 10 grandchildren. Caroline Benn died of cancer on 22 November 2000, aged 74, after a career as an educationalist. Two of Benn's children have been active in Labour Party politics. His eldest son Stephen was an elected Member of the Inner London Education Authority from 1986 to 1990. His second son Hilary was a councillor in London, stood for Parliament in 1983 and 1987 , and became Labour MP for Leeds Central in 1999. He

648-560: A foreigner would upset me very much." In British politics during this period, the term "Bennism" came into use to describe the conviction politics , economic, social and political ideology of Tony Benn; and an exponent or advocate of Bennism was regarded as a "Bennite". In a keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference of 1980, shortly before the resignation of party leader James Callaghan and election of Michael Foot as successor, Benn outlined what he envisaged

729-602: A form of syndicalism , state planning where necessary to ensure national competitiveness, greater democracy in the structures of the Labour Party and observance of Party Conference decisions. Alongside an alleged 12 Labour MPs, he spent 12 years affiliated with the Institute for Workers' Control , beginning in 1971 when he visited the Upper Clyde Shipyards , arguing in 1975 for the "labour movement to intensify its discussion about industrial democracy ". He

810-519: A grenade through the window. Would I have been a freedom fighter or a terrorist?" In July 1943, Benn enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman 2nd Class. His father and elder brother Michael (who was later killed in an accident) were already serving in the RAF. He was granted an emergency commission as a pilot officer (on probation) on 10 March 1945. As a pilot officer, Benn served as

891-481: A loan from the International Monetary Fund . Underlining a wish to counter international market forces which seemed to penalise a larger welfare state , Benn publicly circulated the divided Cabinet minutes in which a narrow majority of the Labour Cabinet under Ramsay MacDonald supported a cut in unemployment benefits in order to obtain a loan from American bankers. As he highlighted, these minutes resulted in

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972-485: A new and more humane team of ministers who are better qualified to administer capitalism. We are working for a majority labour government, elected on a socialist programme, as decided by conference." In June 1985, three months after the miners admitted defeat and ended their strike, Benn introduced the Miners' Amnesty (General Pardon) Bill into the Commons, which would have extended an amnesty to all miners imprisoned during

1053-512: A passionate supporter of it. Having been brought up on the Bible I liked the idea of swords into ploughshares. I advocated nuclear power as Minister of Technology. I was told, and believed, that nuclear power was cheap, safe and peaceful. Having been in charge of nuclear power I discovered it wasn't cheap, wasn't safe and when I left office I was told that during my period as Secretary of State for Energy, plutonium from our nuclear power stations went to

1134-684: A pilot in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia . In June 1944, he made his first solo flight, at RAF Guinea Fowl, an RAF Elementary Flying Training School , in Southern Rhodesia. The aircraft was a Canadian-built Fairchild Cornell . In a 1993 article recounting the experience, he said, "I always thought that I would feel a sense of panic when I saw the ground coming up at me on my first solo, but strangely enough I didn't feel anything but exhilaration ...". He relinquished his commission with effect from 10 August 1945, three months after

1215-634: A schoolteacher who transformed China, released it from civil war and foreign attack and constructed a new society there" in his diaries, adding that "he certainly towers above any twentieth-century figure I can think of in his philosophical contribution and military genius". On his trip to the Chinese embassy after Mao's death, Benn recorded in an earlier volume of his diaries that he was "a great admirer of Mao", while also admitting that "he made mistakes, because everybody does". During Benn's time as energy minister from 1975 to 1979 he supported nuclear power in

1296-566: A specialist in Russia and Eastern Europe. Following the Thames flood in January 1928 their house was uninhabitable so the Benn family moved to Scotland for over 12 months. Their father, William Benn , was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1906 who crossed the floor to the Labour Party in 1928 and was appointed Secretary of State for India by Ramsay MacDonald in 1929, a position he held until

1377-549: Is impossible. I have been Tony Benn in Bristol for a long time." In October 1973, he announced on BBC Radio that he wished to be known as Mr. Tony Benn rather than Anthony Wedgwood Benn, and his book Speeches from 1974 is credited to "Tony Benn". Despite this name change, social historian Alwyn W. Turner writes: "Just as those with an agenda to pursue still call Muhammed Ali by his original name ... so most newspapers continued to refer to Tony Benn as Wedgwood Benn, or Wedgie in

1458-755: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Department of Energy was a significant source of funding for energy research, and for investigations into the potential for renewable energy technologies in the UK. Work funded or part-funded by the department included investigations into Geothermal power and the Severn Barrage Colour key (for political parties): Politicians :     Conservative     Labour Junior ministers included Peter Morrison (Minister of State in 1987) and Patrick Jenkin . Although only formed in 1974,

1539-563: The House of Commons . The Speaker of the Commons, Sir Harry Hylton-Foster , did not allow him to deliver a speech from the bar of the House of Commons in April 1961 when the by-election was being called. Continuing to maintain his right to abandon his peerage, Benn fought to retain his seat in a by-election caused by his succession on 4 May 1961. Although he was disqualified from taking his seat, he

1620-620: The Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill when it came before Parliament at the end of July 1966 for its first reading. Earlier in the month, Benn was promoted to Minister of Technology , which included responsibility for the development of Concorde and the formation of International Computers Ltd. (ICL). The period also saw government involvement in industrial rationalisation, and the merger of several car companies to form British Leyland . Following Conservative MP Enoch Powell 's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech to

1701-781: The first majority Labour Government . Benn's mother, Margaret Benn ( née Holmes, 1897–1991), was a theologian, feminist and the founder President of the Congregational Federation . She was a member of the League of the Church Militant , which was the predecessor of the Movement for the Ordination of Women ; in 1925, she was rebuked by Randall Davidson , the Archbishop of Canterbury , for advocating

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1782-424: The ordination of women . His mother's theology had a profound influence on Benn, as she taught him that the stories in the Bible were mostly about the struggle between the prophets and the kings and that he ought in his life to support the prophets over the kings, who had power, as the prophets taught righteousness . Benn was for over 30 years a committed Christian. He said that the teachings of Jesus Christ had

1863-769: The "Gang of Four") launched the Council for Social Democracy, which became the Social Democratic Party in March. The "Gang of Four" left the Labour Party because of what they perceived to be the influence of the Militant tendency and the Bennite " hard left " within the party. Benn was highly critical of the SDP, saying that "Britain has had SDP governments for the past 25 years." Benn stood against Denis Healey ,

1944-538: The "high-minded" founding roots of Labour. Later in his life, Benn emphasised issues regarding morality and righteousness, as well as various ethical principles of Nonconformism . On Desert Island Discs he said that he had been powerfully influenced by "what I would call the Dissenting tradition" (that is, the English Dissenters who left or were ejected from the established church , one of whom

2025-561: The 1931 split of the Labour Party in which MacDonald and his allies formed a National Government with Conservatives and Liberals. Callaghan allowed Benn to put forward the Alternative Economic Strategy , which consisted of a self-sufficient economy less dependent on low-rate fresh borrowing, but the AES, which according to opponents would have led to a "siege economy", was rejected by the Cabinet. In response, Benn later recalled that: "I retorted that their policy

2106-490: The 1970 election to Edward Heath 's Conservatives and upon Heath's application to join the European Economic Community , a surge in left-wing Euroscepticism emerged. Benn "was stridently against membership", and campaigned in favour of a referendum on the UK's membership. The Shadow Cabinet voted to support a referendum on 29 March 1972, and as a result Roy Jenkins resigned as Deputy Leader of

2187-417: The 1975 edition his entry stated: "Education—still in progress". In the 1976 edition, almost all details were omitted except his name, jobs as a Member of Parliament and as a Government Minister, and address; the publishers confirmed that Benn had sent back the draft entry with everything else struck through. In the 1977 edition, Benn's entry disappeared entirely, and when he returned to Who's Who in 1983, he

2268-543: The AES in Cabinet with the partial support of Peter Shore . He claimed the two courses open to the government were the monetarist , deflationary course recommended by the Treasury and "the protectionist course which is the one I have consistently recommended for two and a half years...protectionism is a perfectly respectable course of action. It is compatible with our strategy. You withdraw behind walls and reconstruct and re-emerge". Benn further said that both courses were

2349-494: The British labour movement and the British Labour Party, and have strengthened our understanding and enriched our thinking. It would be as unthinkable to try to construct the Labour Party without Marx as it would be to establish university faculties of astronomy, anthropology or psychology without permitting the study of Copernicus, Darwin or Freud, and still expect such faculties to be taken seriously. Labour lost

2430-598: The Commons after winning a by-election on 20 August 1963. Benn was a supporter of abolishing the House of Lords. In the 1964 Government led by Harold Wilson , Benn was Postmaster General , where he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower , then the UK's tallest building , and the creations of the Post Bus service and Girobank . He proposed issuing stamps without the monarch 's head, but this met with private opposition from Elizabeth II . Instead,

2511-476: The Commons, and of his long-standing friend, the National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill . However, some miners considered Benn's 1977 industry reforms to have caused problems during the strike; firstly, that they led to huge wage differences and distrust between miners of different regions; and secondly that the controversy over balloting miners for these reforms made it unclear as to whether

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2592-632: The Department of Energy was not the first ministry to handle energy-related matters. The Ministry of Fuel and Power was created on 11 June 1942 from functions separated from the Board of Trade . It took charge of coal production, allocation of supplies of fuels, control of energy prices and petrol rationing during World War II . The Ministry of Fuel and Power was renamed the Ministry of Power in January 1957. The Ministry of Power later became part of

2673-552: The Labour Party . In the Labour Government of 1974 , Benn was Secretary of State for Industry and as such increased nationalised industry pay, provided better terms and conditions for workers such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was involved in setting up worker cooperatives in firms which were struggling, the best known being at Meriden , outside Coventry , producing Triumph Motorcycles. In 1975, he

2754-454: The Labour Party Conference in 1978 found that by large margins they supported Benn for the leadership, as well as many Bennite policies. He publicly supported Sinn Féin and the unification of Ireland , although in 2005 he suggested to Sinn Féin leaders that it abandon its long-standing policy of not taking seats at Westminster ( abstentionism ). Sinn Féin in turn argued that to do so would recognise Britain's claim over Northern Ireland , and

2835-555: The Labour Party was in opposition through the 1980s, he emerged as a prominent figure on the left wing of the party and unsuccessfully challenged Neil Kinnock for the Labour leadership in 1988. After leaving Parliament at the 2001 general election, Benn was President of the Stop the War Coalition until his death in 2014. Benn was widely seen as a key proponent of democratic socialism and Christian socialism , though in regards to

2916-473: The Labour Party's landslide electoral defeat in 1931 . William Benn was elevated to the House of Lords and Tony Benn was subsequently titled with the honorific prefix, The Honourable. William Benn was given the title of Viscount Stansgate in 1942: the new wartime coalition government was short of working Labour peers in the upper house. In 1945–46, William Benn was the Secretary of State for Air in

2997-568: The Pentagon to make nuclear weapons. So every nuclear power station in Britain is a bomb factory for America. I was utterly shaken by that. Nothing in the world would now induce me to support nuclear power. It was a mistake." By the end of the 1970s, Benn's views had shifted to the left wing of the Labour Party. He attributed this political shift to his experience as a Cabinet Minister in the 1964–1970 Labour Government . Benn ascribed his move to

3078-489: The RAF, was intending to enter the priesthood and had no objections to inheriting a peerage . However, Michael was later killed in an accident while on active service in the Second World War, and this left Benn as the heir-apparent to the peerage. He made several unsuccessful attempts to renounce the succession. In November 1960, Lord Stansgate died. Benn automatically became a peer, preventing him from sitting in

3159-628: The Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May, and just days before the war with Japan ended on 2 September. After attending Eaton House day school near Sloane Square, Benn entered Westminster School , and studied at New College, Oxford , where he read Philosophy, politics and economics and was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1947. In later life, Benn removed public references to his private education from Who's Who . In 1970 all references to Westminster School were removed, and in

3240-626: The Sinn Féin constitution prevented its elected members from taking their seats in any British-created institution. A supporter of the Scottish Parliament and political devolution , Benn however opposed the Scottish National Party and Scottish independence , saying: "I think nationalism is a mistake. And I am half Scots and feel it would divide me in half with a knife. The thought that my mother would suddenly be

3321-683: The Tory strategy of a pay policy, higher taxes all round and deflation, with Britain staying in the Common Market . Then Strategy B which is the real Labour policy of saving jobs, a vigorous micro-investment programme, import control, control of the banks and insurance companies, control of export, of capital, higher taxation of the rich, and Britain leaving the Common Market." With Britain in economic crisis in October 1976, Benn put forward

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3402-635: The UK have been occupied by Germany, and they have this mixed feeling of hatred and subservience towards the Germans". Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister in March 1976. Benn later attributed the collapse of the Wilson government to cuts enforced on the UK by global capital , in particular the International Monetary Fund. In the resulting leadership contest Benn finished in fourth place out of

3483-496: The United Kingdom . Later in his life he became an opponent of nuclear power , attributing his time as running it as a minister to persuading him it was not cheap, safe or peaceful. When asked in an interview in January 2009 on what he had changed his mind on over the course of his life he expanded on this issue by saying: "Nuclear power, for example. In 1955 when Eisenhower said he was going for 'Atoms for Peace' I became

3564-469: The buses, even if I have to find a bike", and Labour leader Harold Wilson also told an anti-apartheid rally in London he was "glad that so many Bristolians are supporting the [boycott] campaign", adding that he "wish[ed] them every success". Benn's father was created Viscount Stansgate in 1942 when Winston Churchill increased the number of Labour peers to aid political work in the House of Lords; at this time, Benn's elder brother Michael, then serving in

3645-521: The case of the tabloids, for years to come." Benn met Caroline Middleton DeCamp (born 13 October 1926, Cincinnati , Ohio, United States) over tea at Worcester College, Oxford , in 1949; just nine days after meeting her, he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from Oxford City Council and installed it in the garden of their home in Holland Park . Tony and Caroline had four children— Stephen , Hilary , Melissa ,

3726-591: The forces of hatred will mark up their first success and mobilise their first offensive...Enoch Powell has emerged as the real leader of the Conservative Party. He is a far stronger character than Mr. Heath. He speaks his mind; Heath does not. The final proof of Powell's power is that Heath dare not attack him publicly, even when he says things that disgust decent Conservatives. The mainstream press attacked Benn for using language deemed as intemperate as Powell's language in his "Rivers of Blood" speech (which

3807-536: The late 1970s and its adherents. He was an influence on the political views of Jeremy Corbyn , who was elected Leader of the Labour Party a year after Benn's death, and John McDonnell , who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Corbyn. Benn was born in Westminster, London, on 3 April 1925. He had two brothers, Michael (1921–1944), who was killed in the Second World War, and David (1928–2017),

3888-451: The latter he supported the United Kingdom becoming a secular state and ending the Church of England 's status as an official church of the United Kingdom. Originally considered a moderate within the party, he was identified as belonging to its left wing after leaving ministerial office. The terms Bennism and Bennite came into usage to describe the left-wing politics he espoused from

3969-500: The law. The Peerage Act 1963 , allowing lifetime disclaimer of peerages, became law shortly after 6 pm on 31 July 1963. Benn was the first peer to renounce his title, doing so at 6.22 pm that day. St Clair, fulfilling a promise he had made at the time of his election, then accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead , disqualifying himself from the House ( outright resignation not being possible ). Benn returned to

4050-427: The left to four lessons: As regards the power of industrialists and bankers, Benn remarked: Compared to this, the pressure brought to bear in industrial disputes by the unions is minuscule. This power was revealed even more clearly in 1976 when the International Monetary Fund secured cuts in our public expenditure. ... These [four] lessons led me to the conclusion that the UK is only superficially governed by MPs and

4131-501: The next Labour Government would do. "Within days", a Labour Government would gain powers to nationalise industries, control capital and implement industrial democracy; "within weeks", all powers from Brussels would be returned to Westminster, and the House of Lords would be abolished by creating one thousand new peers and then abolishing the peerage. Benn received tumultuous applause. On 25 January 1981, Roy Jenkins , David Owen , Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers (known collectively as

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4212-465: The next Labour seat to fall vacant, after Eric Varley had left the Commons to head Coalite . On the day of the by-election , 1 March 1984, The Sun newspaper ran a hostile feature article, "Benn on the Couch", which purported to be the opinions of an American psychiatrist. Newly elected to a mining seat, Benn was a supporter of the 1984–85 UK miners' strike , which was beginning when he returned to

4293-629: The opening of the Post Office Tower , and later as Minister of Technology . Benn served as Chairman of the National Executive Committee from 1971 to 1972 while in Opposition . In the Labour government of 1974–1979 , he returned to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Industry and subsequently served as Secretary of State for Energy . He retained that post when James Callaghan succeeded Wilson as Prime Minister . When

4374-468: The paraphernalia and doctrine of organised religion but not without the teachings of Jesus". Although Benn became more agnostic as he became older, he was intrigued by the interconnections between Christianity, radicalism and socialism. Wilby also wrote in The Guardian that although former Chancellor Stafford Cripps described Benn as "as keen a Christian as I am myself", Benn wrote in 2005 that he

4455-511: The party's incumbent deputy leader , triggering the 1981 deputy leadership election , disregarding an appeal from Michael Foot to either stand for the leadership or abstain from inflaming the party's divisions. Benn defended his decision insisting that it was "not about personalities, but about policies". The result was announced on 27 September 1981; Healey retained his position by a margin of barely one per cent. The decision of several soft left MPs, including Neil Kinnock , to abstain triggered

4536-431: The portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on commemorative stamps. Benn also led the government's opposition to the "pirate" radio stations broadcasting from international waters, which he was aware would be an unpopular measure. He claimed that some of these stations were causing interference to emergency radio used by shipping, although he was not responsible for introducing

4617-489: The satellites coming in now—well, it is the multinational church all over again. That's why Mrs Thatcher pulled Britain out of UNESCO : she was not prepared, any more than Ronald Reagan was, to be part of an organisation that talked about a New World Information Order , people speaking to each other without the help of Murdoch or Maxwell ." According to Wilby in the New Statesman , Benn "decided to do without

4698-506: The six cabinet ministers who stood—he withdrew as 11.8 per cent of colleagues voted for him in the first ballot. Benn withdrew from the second ballot and endorsed Michael Foot ; James Callaghan eventually won. Despite not receiving his support in the second and third rounds of the vote, Callaghan kept Benn on as Energy Secretary. In 1976, there was a sterling crisis, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey sought

4779-813: The split of the Socialist Campaign Group from the left of the Tribune Group . After Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in April 1982, Benn argued that the dispute should be settled by the United Nations and that the British Government should not send a task force to recapture the islands. The task force was sent, and following the Falklands War , they were back in British control by mid-June. In

4860-401: The strike. This would have included two men convicted of murder (later reduced to manslaughter) for the killing of David Wilkie , a taxi driver driving a non-striking miner to work in South Wales during the strike. Department of Energy (United Kingdom) Following the privatisation of the energy industries in the United Kingdom , which had begun some ten years earlier, the department

4941-500: The voters who elect them. Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is, and some new Chartist agitation might be born and might quickly gather momentum. Benn's philosophy consisted of

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5022-434: Was Daniel Holmes , MP for Glasgow Govan . Benn's contact with leading politicians of the day dates back to his earliest years. He met Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald when he was five years old, and described him as: "A kindly old gentleman [who] leaned over me and offered me a chocolate biscuit. I've looked at Labour leaders in a funny way ever since." Benn also met former Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George when he

5103-511: Was Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007, and then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs until 2010, later serving as Shadow Foreign Secretary (2015–16). This makes him the third generation of his family to have been a member of the Cabinet , a rare distinction for a modern political family in Britain. Benn's granddaughter Emily Benn was the Labour Party's youngest-ever candidate when she failed to win East Worthing and Shoreham in 2010 . Benn

5184-423: Was "a Christian agnostic" who believed "in Jesus the prophet, not Christ the king", specifically rejecting the label of " humanist ". Both of Benn's grandfathers were Liberal Party MPs; his paternal grandfather was John Benn , a successful politician, MP for Tower Hamlets and later Devonport , who was created a baronet in 1914 (and who founded a publishing company, Benn Brothers ), and his maternal grandfather

5265-406: Was 12, and later recalled that, while still a boy, he once shook hands with Mahatma Gandhi , in 1931, while his father was Secretary of State for India . During the Second World War , Benn joined and trained with the Home Guard from the age of 16, later recalling in a speech made in 2009: "I could use a bayonet, a rifle, a revolver, and if I'd seen a German officer having a meal I'd have tossed

5346-448: Was a "great mistake" to assume that the teachings of Christianity are outdated in modern Britain, and Higgins wrote in The Benn Inheritance that Benn was "a socialist whose political commitment owes much more to the teaching of Jesus than the writing of Marx". (Indeed, he did not read The Communist Manifesto until he was in his 50s. ) "The driving force of his life was Christian socialism ," according to Peter Wilby , linking Benn to

5427-471: Was a British Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the Member of Parliament for Bristol South East and Chesterfield for 47 of the 51 years between 1950 and 2001 . He later served as President of the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 to 2014. The son of a Liberal and later Labour Party politician, Benn was born in Westminster and privately educated at Westminster School . He

5508-437: Was a first cousin once removed of the actress Margaret Rutherford . Benn and his wife Caroline became vegetarian in 1970, for ethical reasons, and remained so for the rest of their lives. Benn cited the decision of his son Hilary to become vegetarian as an important factor in his own decision to adopt a vegetarian diet. Following the Second World War, Benn worked briefly as a BBC Radio producer. On 1 November 1950, he

5589-404: Was a siege economy, only they had the bankers inside the castle with all our supporters left outside, whereas my policy would have our supporters in the castle with the bankers outside." Benn blamed the Winter of Discontent on these cuts to socialist policies. Upon the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, Benn described Mao as "one of the greatest—if not the greatest—figures of the twentieth century:

5670-502: Was abolished by boundary changes, and he lost to Michael Cocks in the selection of a candidate to stand in the new winnable seat of Bristol South . Rejecting offers from the new seat of Livingston in Scotland, Benn contested Bristol East , losing to the Conservative 's Jonathan Sayeed in June 1983. Foot resigned as leader following the defeat which reduced Labour to only 209 MPs, while Healey also decided to step down as deputy leader. However Benn's absence from parliament meant that he

5751-502: Was abolished in 1992. Many of its functions were abandoned, with the remainder being absorbed into other bodies or departments. The Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas) and the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) took over market regulation, the Energy Efficiency Office was transferred to the Department of the Environment , and various media-related functions were transferred to the Department of National Heritage . The core activities relating to UK energy policy were transferred back to

5832-538: Was appointed Secretary of State for Energy , immediately following his unsuccessful campaign for a "No" vote in the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Community (Common Market) . Later in his diary, (25 October 1977) Benn wrote that he "loathed" the EEC; he claimed it was "bureaucratic and centralised" and "of course it is really dominated by Germany. All the Common Market countries except

5913-712: Was elected for Bristol South East at the 1950 general election but inherited his father's peerage on his death, which prevented him from continuing to serve as an MP. He fought to remain in the House of Commons and campaigned for the ability to renounce the title, a campaign which eventually succeeded with the Peerage Act 1963 . He was an active member of the Fabian Society and served as chairman from 1964 to 1965. He served in Harold Wilson 's Labour government , first as Postmaster General , where he oversaw

5994-487: Was his ancestor William Benn ). "I've never thought we can understand the world we lived in unless we understood the history of the church", Benn said to the Catholic Herald . "All political freedoms were won, first of all, through religious freedom. Some of the arguments about the control of the media today, which are very big arguments, are the arguments that would have been fought in the religious wars. You have

6075-553: Was listed as "Tony Benn" and all references to his education or service record were removed. In 1972, Benn said in his diaries that "Today I had the idea that I would resign my Privy Councillorship, my MA and all my honorary doctorates in order to strip myself of what the world had to offer". While he acknowledged that he "might be ridiculed" for doing so, Benn said that " 'Wedgie Benn' and 'the Rt Honourable Anthony Wedgwood Benn' and all that stuff

6156-657: Was re-elected. An election court found that the voters were fully aware that Benn was disqualified, and declared the seat won by the Conservative runner-up, Malcolm St Clair , who was at the time also the heir presumptive to a peerage. Benn continued his campaign outside Parliament. Within two years, though, the Conservative Government of the time, which had members in the same or similar situation to Benn's (i.e., who were going to receive title, or who had already applied for writs of summons), changed

6237-497: Was selected to succeed Stafford Cripps as the Labour candidate for Bristol South East , after Cripps stood down because of ill-health. He won the seat in a by-election on 30 November 1950 . Anthony Crosland helped him get the seat as he was the MP for nearby South Gloucestershire at the time. Upon taking the oath on 4 December 1950 Benn became " Baby of the House ", the youngest MP, for one day, being succeeded by Thomas Teevan , who

6318-610: Was two years younger but took his oath a day later. He became the "Baby" again in 1951, when Teevan was not re-elected. In the 1950s, Benn held middle-of-the-road or soft left views, and was not associated with the young left wing group around Aneurin Bevan . As MP for Bristol South East, Benn helped organise the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott against the colour bar of the Bristol Omnibus Company against employing black and Asian drivers. Benn said that he would "stay off

6399-408: Was unable to stand in the resulting leadership contest as only MPs were eligible to be candidates. Benn's absence from the contest was reported by The Glasgow Herald to leave Neil Kinnock as "the favourite Left-wing candidate". Ultimately Kinnock won the contest, formally replacing Foot as party leader in October of that year. In a by-election, Benn was elected as the MP for Chesterfield ,

6480-404: Was vilified by most of the press while his opponents implied and stated that a Benn-led Labour Government would implement a type of Eastern European state socialism, with Edward Heath referring to Benn as " Commissar Benn" and others referring to Benn as a " Bollinger Bolshevik ". Despite this, Benn was overwhelmingly popular with Labour activists in the constituencies: a survey of delegates at

6561-487: Was widely regarded as racist), and Benn noted in his diary that "letters began pouring in on the Powell speech: 2:1 against me but some very sympathetic ones saying that my speech was overdue". Harold Wilson later reprimanded Benn for this speech, accusing him of losing Labour seats in the 1970 general election. During the 1970s Benn publicly defended Marxism, saying: The Communist Manifesto , and many other works of Marxist philosophy, have always profoundly influenced

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