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Socialist icon debates invasion
8:26pm Wednesday 14th May 2008
Comments (18)Veteran socialist politician Tony Benn was in Oxford tonight to take part in a debate about the controversial Iraq war.
The former MP for Chesterfield, 83, who in February, 2004 was elected the first President of the Stop the War Coalition, appeared at the Town Hall together with other anti-war protesters.
The event was organised by the London-based group Action for UN Renewal.
It involved a debate on the subject Five years of war in Iraq: What role can the United Nations play in building peace and security.
Hundreds of people turned out to hear the debate by one of politics' most enduring figures.
Mr Benn studied at Oxford's New College, where he read philosophy, politics and economics. He was also elected president of the Oxford Union and is a regular visitor to the city.
Mr Benn was joined in the debate by John Tanner, whose last day as Lord Mayor of Oxford is tomorrow.
Your Say YourOxford Mail
Trevor, Auckland, New Zealand says...
12:22am Thu 15 May 08
Mr Ison wrote:Ah, but I'll wager there was most certainly no smell of it on his breath.
It's late in the day and the shadows are lengthening.
Uranium is still fresh as a daisy though.
RIP: David Lange
Mr Ison, England says...
12:31am Thu 15 May 08
Mr Ison, England says...
1:20am Thu 15 May 08
Perhaps Mr Benn can take a stab at answering the question.
I know what i would do.
Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster says...
1:29am Thu 15 May 08
In the days of Soviet Russia, it was people like him, and that odious woman from the Gruniad, Polly PC Toynbee, that were wafted around in Zil limos along special lanes reserved for the party elite, whilst the rest of the population suffered poverty and oppression.
The fact that Benn and his ilk are avid EUrophiles is reason enough for me to be extremely wary of that burgeoning socialist monolith.
alan page, says...
11:12am Thu 15 May 08
Keith Lonsdale wrote:Couldn't agree with you more.
Benn is a charlatan; a champagne socialist with a vast family fortune, who is a very vocal advocate of a system who's adverse side effects he can well afford to buy himself out of. Not so the rest of us plebs. In the days of Soviet Russia, it was people like him, and that odious woman from the Gruniad, Polly PC Toynbee, that were wafted around in Zil limos along special lanes reserved for the party elite, whilst the rest of the population suffered poverty and oppression. The fact that Benn and his ilk are avid EUrophiles is reason enough for me to be extremely wary of that burgeoning socialist monolith.
Read "Gorbals Boy at Oxford" and you will see the true face of the bourgeois left.
It even discusses Philip Toynbee.
The middle classes are only out for themselves and if it means lying and manipulating others, they will do it.
The only difference between a union and a corporate executive is the colour of their evening dress suits.
Mr Ison, England says...
12:27pm Thu 15 May 08
Red herring is his game.
Bob Howse, The House Of LOrds says...
2:42pm Thu 15 May 08
Questioner, Abingdon says...
3:00pm Thu 15 May 08
Baleful Spectre of Truth, says...
7:39pm Thu 15 May 08
Bob Howse wrote:That's somewhat misleading. Benn inherited a peerage in 1960 but he disclaimed it; indeed, it was he who brought about the change in the law enabling people to disclaim their peerages. And it's wrong to call him "Sir Anthony"; he is not and never has been a knight.
I agree-how can Tony Benn call himself a socialist when he's part of the aristocratic establishment? Remember his full title-Sir Antony Wedgewood Benn-he's a Lord for chrissakes!
Baleful Spectre of Truth, says...
7:49pm Thu 15 May 08
Keith Lonsdale wrote:Benn's no Europhile. A fierce opponent of the EU treaty, he condemns the EU as "absolutely undemocratic" and says it should be reformed and power handed back to nation states and elected politicians.
Benn is a charlatan; a champagne socialist with a vast family fortune, who is a very vocal advocate of a system who's adverse side effects he can well afford to buy himself out of. Not so the rest of us plebs. In the days of Soviet Russia, it was people like him, and that odious woman from the Gruniad, Polly PC Toynbee, that were wafted around in Zil limos along special lanes reserved for the party elite, whilst the rest of the population suffered poverty and oppression. The fact that Benn and his ilk are avid EUrophiles is reason enough for me to be extremely wary of that burgeoning socialist monolith.
Mr Ison, England says...
9:41pm Thu 15 May 08
He was paid well for his subversive antics and the sound of his own voice.
Nothing to be gained by listening to the noises coming from his mouth.
Mrs Ison, also in England says...
10:31pm Thu 15 May 08
Mr Ison, England says...
10:53pm Thu 15 May 08
e Vegetables!,8 million tons of Pig Iron!.
And all those other nonsensical cult slogans.
He served as a fifth columnist and still does in his leisure time.
A fairweather Bolshie as mentioned earlier,wouldnt be surrendering his wealth to the collective or soiling his hands with a confiscated plough or spending any time involved in the means of production.
Mr Ison, England says...
11:05pm Thu 15 May 08
The other side of the bench but just as nutty,believed the black man would hae the whip hand.
At the time the Israeli were stealing nuclear secrets and building Nooklar boms.
Mr Benn of course demanded the cover story was one of poverty,we were too poor to defend ourselves from the emerging terrorist threat.
One could be forgiven for wondering why a man who spoke gibberish for such a long time was enabled to do so.
The Anti-Ison, Oxford says...
10:38am Fri 16 May 08
Pots and kettles spring to mind, sir
Mr Ison, Bikini says...
6:46pm Fri 16 May 08
It was a close shave,Stalin was right on the doorstep and leering in.
Only the unsung heroes prevented the Gulags from enriching the British way of life.
Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster says...
4:20am Sat 17 May 08
However, I stand by all else.
Tony Benn in Oxford tonight
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Mr Ison, England says...
10:00pm Wed 14 May 08
Uranium is still fresh as a daisy though.