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Tony Benn

Tony Benn Quotes

Former Member of the European Parliament

Tony Benn was a prominent British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament for over 50 years. He was a key figure in the Labour Party and held various ministerial positions in the government. Benn was known for his radical left-wing views and his commitment to social justice and equality.

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Famous Tony Benn Quotes

“People say that if we work for the Single European Act, women will get their rights, the water will be purer, and training will be better. That is rubbish. It is part of the attempt to consolidate the EEC.”

People Ifs Water Rights Training Rubbish

Author:Tony Benn

“I've been a member of the Labour Party sixty five years, and I remain in it, but I think it's all about campaigning for justice and peace, and if you do that, you get a lot of support.”

Ifs Thinking Years Justice Party Support Five Members Five Years Labour Sixty Peace And Justice Labour Party Campaigning

Author:Tony Benn

“Someone comes every morning at nine o'clock to see if I am still alive. I do get lonely, yes, but I have the children who come and see me. I see all my children every week, and there are the grandchildren, too.”

Ifs Children Stills Morning Alive Week Lonely Nine Clock My Children Every Morning Grandchildren

Author:Tony Benn

“It is tempting to deny, but if you deny you confirm what you won't deny.”

Ifs Deny Tempting

Author:Tony Benn

“There is good and bad in all of us and the Church uses the idea of original sin to control us by saying that, if we do not obey the bishops, we will rot in Hell.”

Ifs Ideas Use Church Sin Hell Originals Good And Bad Bishops Original Sin

Author:Tony Benn

“Change always follows the same pattern. If you come up with something new they try and put you off.If that doesn't work they call you stark raving bonkers.If that doesn't work they lock you up like the suffragettes.Then, after a pause, the change happensand you can't find anyone that doesn't claim to have been fighting for it with you.”

Ifs Trying Has Beens Fighting Claims Patterns Come Up Something New Locks Pauses Starks Suffragettes

Author:Tony Benn

“If democracy is destroyed in Britain, it will be not the communists, Trotskyists or subversives but this House which threw it away. The rights that are entrusted to us are not for us to give away. Even if I agree with everything that is proposed, I cannot hand away powers lent to me for five years by the people of Chesterfield. I just could not do it. It would be theft of public rights.”

People Ifs Giving Years Hands Would Be House Democracy Five Rights Agree Destroyed Five Years Britain Communist Theft

Author:Tony Benn

“If democracy is ever to be threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented.”

“If ever I left the House of Commons it would be because I wanted to spend more time on politics.”

Ifs Would Be Wanted House Left More Time House Of Commons

Author:Tony Benn

“If you file your waste-paper basket for fifty years, you have a public library.”

Ifs Years Waste Paper Library Fifty Files Baskets Public Library

Author:Tony Benn

“If the Queen can reject the advice of a minister on a little thing like a postage stamp, what would happen if she rejected the advice of the Prime Minister on a major matter? If the Crown personally can reject advice, then, of course, the whole democratic facade turns out to be false”

Ifs Littles Matter Whole Happens Turns Courses Politics Advice Majors Democratic Ministers Queens Rejects Prime Little Things Crowns Rejected Prime Minister Stamps Facade Postage Postage Stamps

Author:Tony Benn

“If I rescued a child from drowning, the press would no doubt headline the story: 'Benn grabs child”

Ifs Children Stories Humor Funny Politics Doubt Presses No Doubt Drowning Headlines

Author:Tony Benn

“If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people.”

People Ifs Helping Political Politics Money Politician Findings Killing Helpful

Author:Tony Benn

“When I saw how the European Union was developing, it was very obvious what they had in mind was not democratic. In Britain, you vote for a government so the government has to listen to you, and if you don't like it you can change it.”

Ifs Mind Government Change Democracy Saws Listening Europe Vote Election Unions Democratic Obvious Developing Britain Voting Governing European Union

Author:Tony Benn

“Experience is the only real teacher and if you keep a diary you get three bites at educating yourself - when it happens, when you write it down, and when you reread it and realise you were wrong. Making mistakes is part of life. The only things I would feel ashamed of would be if I had said things I hadn't believed in order to get on. Some politicians do do that.”

Ifs Feels Writing Said Real Happens Would Be Order Three Mistake Teacher Politician Down And Ashamed Making Mistakes Realising Bites Diaries Parts Of Life Educating Yourself

Author:Tony Benn

“Well, it all began with Democracy. Before we had the vote all the power was in the hands of rich people. If you had money you could get health care, education, look after yourself when you were old, and what democracy did was to give the poor the vote and it moved power from the marketplace to the polling station, from the wallet...to the ballot.”

People Ifs Giving Wells Looks Hands Care Poor Democracy Rich Vote Moved Health Care Stations Marketplace Rich People Ballots Wallets Polling Look After Yourself

Author:Tony Benn

“If one meets a powerful person - Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates - ask them five questions: 'What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?' If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.”

People Ifs Persons Asks Interest Powerful Five Exercise Bills Democratic Gates Powerful Person

Author:Tony Benn

“After the war people said, 'If you can plan for war, why can't you plan for peace?' When I was 17, I had a letter from the government saying, 'Dear Mr. Benn, will you turn up when you're 17 1/2? We'll give you free food, free clothes, free training, free accommodation, and two shillings, ten pence a day to just kill Germans.' People said, well, if you can have full employment to kill people, why in God's name couldn't you have full employment and good schools, good hospitals, good houses?”

People Ifs Giving Wells Said Two War Government School Turns House Names Plans Ten Clothes Training Letters Dear Employment Hospitals Accommodations Good School Free Food

Author:Tony Benn

“Choice depends on the freedom to choose and if you are shackled with debt you don't have the freedom to choose.”

Ifs Choices Depends Debt Freedom To Choose

Author:Tony Benn

“People in debt become hopeless and hopeless people don't vote. They always say that that everyone should vote but I think that if the poor in Britain or the United States turned out and voted for people that represented their interests there would be a real democratic revolution.”

People Ifs Thinking Should Real States Would Be Interest Poor United United States Revolution Vote Democratic Debt Britain Hopeless

Author:Tony Benn

“I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world, because if you have power you use it to meet the needs of you and your community.”

Ifs Thinking World Needs Use Community Democracy Revolutionary

Author:Tony Benn

“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”

People Ifs Mean Littles Would Be Political Asks Democracy Team Essence Management Remains British Enjoyed Amazed Political Systems Parliamentary Parliamentary Democracy

Author:Tony Benn

About the Author

Born: April 3, 1925
Died: March 14, 2014
Known for: Former Member of the European Parliament
Quotes: 151

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Politics People Thinking Ifs Democracy World Political War Labour Party Democratic Vote Years Believe Britain British Giving Government House Important

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Books & Sources

Out of the Wilderness: Diaries, 1963-67Related source material

SpeechesRelated source material

Arguments for socialismRelated source material

Out of the Wilderness: Diaries 1963-67Related source material

The Best of BennRelated source material

The end of an era: diaries, 1980-90Related source material

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