Tony Benn

Britain Announces Partial Withdrawal from Iraq

Tony Benn — 2007-02-22T06:25:00Z

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced plans for the partial withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq. Blair made the statement today to members of parliament in the House of Commons. Blair told MPs the more than 7,000 British troops serving in Iraq would be cut by 1,600 soon with hopes that another five hundred could leave by the end of summer.

Tony Benn is one of Britain's most distinguished politicians and the longest serving MP in the history of the Labour party. He joins me on the line now from London.

- / Democracy Now!

'The responsibility belongs to all of us to demand an end to the war.'

Kevin Zeese, Tony Benn — 2005-12-20T04:13:00Z

Tony Benn, was born in London on April 3rd 1925, the son, grandson and father of Members of Parliament. He entered Parliament in 1950 at the age of 25 and retired from the House of Commons in May 2001. He is the longest serving Labor MP in the history of the party. He was a Cabinet minister in the Wilson and Callaghan governments from 1964 - 79 and President of the Council of European Energy ministers in 1977.

Since leaving Parliament in 2001 to "spend more time in politics," he has mostly devoted himself to public speaking and anti war advocacy as the President of the Stop the War Coalition. In February 2003 he went to Baghdad to interview Saddam Hussein in an effort to avoid the current Iraq War. Regarding the interview he said: "In the House of Commons I've attacked Saddam time and time and time again, but I'm not going to be party to killing up to half a million innocent Iraqis, many of whom dislike Saddam, just to see that America gets the oil it needs." In the BBC Millennial Poll of the Top 100 Greatest Britons of All Time, he ranked No. 97.

In 1949 he married Caroline Benn, educationalist and author of the biography of Keir Hardie, who died in 2000 and they have four children and ten grandchildren.

- / DemocracyRising.US

London Subway and Bus Explosions Kill 37, Injure 700

Bob Herbert, Omar Waraich, Tony Benn — 2005-07-07T21:50:00Z

Tony Blair is calling the subway and bus explosions in London a series of terrorist attacks designed to coincide with the G8 meetings in Scotland. The blasts ripped through three subway trains and a double-decker bus. Forty people are confirmed dead and more than a hundred injured. We go to London for eye-witness reports and comment from former parliamentarian Tony Benn and independent journalist Omar Waraich.

- / Democracy Now!

Not apathy, but anger

Tony Benn — 2005-03-17T14:41:00Z

General election campaigns have degenerated into an exchange of personal abuse which puts most people off; a flurry of election promises marketed by high-pressure salesmen; and the usual solemn warnings about apathy - as if the real problems in Britain were caused by the inactivity of the people, rather than the activity of the parliamentarians.

Apathy has its advantages for the political class - by which I mean the party leaders, their spin doctors and their embedded correspondents in the media, who live in the Westminster village and rarely seem to get out to listen to what is being said.

It encourages ministers to do what they like on the grounds that the public are not really interested. For the same reason, it entitles the media to dumb down their coverage as if that is the only way to win attention. This suggests that those at the top have little confidence in people's intelligence. (...) [page 27 | Comment]

- / Guardian

MPs can end the Iraq folly

Tony Benn — 2004-09-22T12:56:05Z

At the moment when the prime minister has announced his decision to intensify the war in Iraq and when more British troops may well be sent there, the time has come for new policies to be adopted since we know, in great detail, all the key facts from very authoritative sources. (...) [page 25 | Comment]

- / Guardian

"Hope is the Fuel of Progress" - Former British MP and Leading Antiwar Voice Tony Benn On Imperialism and Resistance

Amy Goodman, Tony Benn — 2004-03-29T23:16:36Z

As the 9/11 investigation continues to dominate the news with former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke reiterating his claim that the Iraq invasion was a diversion form the war on terror, we hear from former British MP and leading antiwar voice, Tony Benn. After serving in the British Parliament for over half a century, Benn is now president of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain.