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Tony Benn in the first 5 minutes of The Wilderness Years gives the only honest & correct diagnosis of said years. His words still apply today.
& #39;Labour hasn& #39;t appeared to stand for anything since 1974 & people are not fools; they see that, so they say better the devil we know.& #39;
& #39;Labour hasn& #39;t appeared to stand for anything since 1974 & people are not fools; they see that, so they say better the devil we know.& #39;
All the other politicians influenced thus far, Blair, Brown and Hattersley are breathtakingly self-serving. Utter ghouls, the lot of them. Shameful.
Watch, remember, and apply the lessons to today.
Watch, remember, and apply the lessons to today.
The BBC narrator easing from Benn& #39;s campaign to democratise the Party, to <1 minute later> revolutionise the Party.
Healey going full authentocrat, much as Kinnock would later. Benn, almost alone among his collegues, *did* realise that the world was changing, and had a diagnosis that wasn& #39;t more of the same, but worse.
The coward Hattersley:
& #39;I think many of Tony Benn& #39;s ideas are crazy, I think he& #39;s pursued them with an unscrupulousness which is deplorable, I think he& #39;s a great believer in personal aggrandisement.& #39;
The ideas? Party democracy.
& #39;I think many of Tony Benn& #39;s ideas are crazy, I think he& #39;s pursued them with an unscrupulousness which is deplorable, I think he& #39;s a great believer in personal aggrandisement.& #39;
The ideas? Party democracy.
The appalling Kaufman:
& #39;They wanted to turn the Party into a Stalinist Party which was not controlled by the people, but was controlled by a number of inner party organisations, which then imposed their wishes on the govt.& #39;
The irony of the Labour Right& #39;s democratic centralism.
& #39;They wanted to turn the Party into a Stalinist Party which was not controlled by the people, but was controlled by a number of inner party organisations, which then imposed their wishes on the govt.& #39;
The irony of the Labour Right& #39;s democratic centralism.
Corbz! (who was hench).
Healey haughtily dismissing activists and CLP members as & #39;not representative of the rank-and-file& #39;.
Benn & #39;the term & #39;activist& #39; became a term of abuse....if you& #39;re an entrepreneur, you& #39;re a capitalist activist, if you& #39;re an editor of a paper, you& #39;re a journaist activist.& #39;
Benn & #39;the term & #39;activist& #39; became a term of abuse....if you& #39;re an entrepreneur, you& #39;re a capitalist activist, if you& #39;re an editor of a paper, you& #39;re a journaist activist.& #39;
David Owen, displaying the remarkable contempt for democracy, Labour voters, and Labour members,that continues to inform the PLP.
He& #39;s simply astonished by Benn& #39;s commitment to democracy.
& #39;This is what he really thought& #39; he decries, wide-eyed.
He& #39;s simply astonished by Benn& #39;s commitment to democracy.
& #39;This is what he really thought& #39; he decries, wide-eyed.
On MP& #39;s as delegates rather than representatives:
& #39;that was the ominous and, in my view, absolutely outrageous aspect of their campaign.& #39;
Apparently re-selection wasn& #39;t about giving power to constituencies!
Glad you did one, mate.
Next!
& #39;that was the ominous and, in my view, absolutely outrageous aspect of their campaign.& #39;
Apparently re-selection wasn& #39;t about giving power to constituencies!
Glad you did one, mate.
Next!
Jenkins, now here& #39;s some elision:
& #39;The Party was taken miles away from the sort of social democratic, internationalist, pro-Nato view, that I had been brought up in.& #39;
True, but what on earth is internationalist or social democratic about <deep breath, curses> fucking Nato?
& #39;The Party was taken miles away from the sort of social democratic, internationalist, pro-Nato view, that I had been brought up in.& #39;
True, but what on earth is internationalist or social democratic about <deep breath, curses> fucking Nato?
Owen (after lying about the EU as the cause of the split):
& #39;We raised the question (having dismissed a Centre Party) about whether or not if Labour couldn& #39;t represent a democratic socialist point of view then a social democratic voice would have to emerge.& #39;
Bullshit merchant.
& #39;We raised the question (having dismissed a Centre Party) about whether or not if Labour couldn& #39;t represent a democratic socialist point of view then a social democratic voice would have to emerge.& #39;
Bullshit merchant.
& #39;but again, it was never with any intention to do anything other than fight.& #39;
You wouldn& #39;t buy a used car from David Owen.
You wouldn& #39;t buy a used car from David Owen.
Astonishing even by Hattersley& #39;s style, talking about Conference arrangements:
& #39;There we were sat in a hen coop, which looked exactly like the gulity men at the Nuremburg Trial.& #39;
Let that sink in.
The narcissism and insensitivity are off the charts.
& #39;There we were sat in a hen coop, which looked exactly like the gulity men at the Nuremburg Trial.& #39;
Let that sink in.
The narcissism and insensitivity are off the charts.
Hattersley:
& #39;The great cry of treachery was a speech made by Tony Benn in which he listed all the promised that the Labour Party in government had broken.& #39;
Ah yes, accountability and transparency = treachery.
& #39;The great cry of treachery was a speech made by Tony Benn in which he listed all the promised that the Labour Party in government had broken.& #39;
Ah yes, accountability and transparency = treachery.
Unreliable narrator:
& #39;Right-wing MPs were outraged at the Left& #39;s proposals to give more power to Trades Unions and party members: a recipe, in their view, for a Trotskyite takeover.& #39;
He& #39;s talking about party democracy.
All this sounding familiar yet?
& #39;Right-wing MPs were outraged at the Left& #39;s proposals to give more power to Trades Unions and party members: a recipe, in their view, for a Trotskyite takeover.& #39;
He& #39;s talking about party democracy.
All this sounding familiar yet?
Smethwick (now there& #39;s a constituency to conjure with) MP:
& #39;I represent the true Labour Party in Smethwick <voice tremors>, not the Workers& #39; Revolutionary Party, nor the Militant Trots...Madame Chairman, the baying of the beast betrays it& #39;s presence.& #39;
& #39;I represent the true Labour Party in Smethwick <voice tremors>, not the Workers& #39; Revolutionary Party, nor the Militant Trots...Madame Chairman, the baying of the beast betrays it& #39;s presence.& #39;
Let& #39;s be clear, the waxed moustached MP for Smethwick is calling Labour members & #39;beasts& #39;.
Joe Ashton is at least honest about his opposition to mandatory reselection: Right-wing MP& #39;s would defect because they would be democratically voted out over time (no thought to being a good MP).
That& #39;s the Labour Right for you, Smithers.
Rabid anti-democrats. Plus ca change.
That& #39;s the Labour Right for you, Smithers.
Rabid anti-democrats. Plus ca change.
On Benn effectively winning Conference, having defeated the block vote, the war criminal Jack Straw giving Hatterley a run for his money:
& #39;It was appalling,there was poison in the air, there was a real sense of triumphalism by...the Bennites.& #39;
Democracy is poisonous & appalling
& #39;It was appalling,there was poison in the air, there was a real sense of triumphalism by...the Bennites.& #39;
Democracy is poisonous & appalling
At least Straw is consistent.
David Owen delivering the worst rallying call I& #39;ve ever seen. It contains the word passion and fight x 3, & #39;fudge, smudge, and mudge (what is mudge?) and no reference to strategy or politics. He& #39;s ringing it in already, the fraud.
David Owen delivering the worst rallying call I& #39;ve ever seen. It contains the word passion and fight x 3, & #39;fudge, smudge, and mudge (what is mudge?) and no reference to strategy or politics. He& #39;s ringing it in already, the fraud.
Owen:
& #39;Callaghan wasn& #39;t going to fight and why should he? Jim Callaghan had had a distinguished record as Chancellor (devaluation), Home Secretary (Troops to Ulster), Foreign Secretary, Prime Minister (Winter of Discontent, Thatcherism, IMF).
Some judgement.
& #39;Callaghan wasn& #39;t going to fight and why should he? Jim Callaghan had had a distinguished record as Chancellor (devaluation), Home Secretary (Troops to Ulster), Foreign Secretary, Prime Minister (Winter of Discontent, Thatcherism, IMF).
Some judgement.
Callaghan then committed a typical act of Right-Wing contempt for rules, promises, members and democracy, by ignoring Conference (having promied to abide by decisions) & resigning before the new rules were applicable thus ensuring Tony Benn remained at a disadvantage.
Bryan Gould on <cliche alert> & #39;the best leader Labour never had& #39; Denis Hinterland Healey:
& #39;He is a thug, and he over the years, I think, gratuitously or otherwise, offended large numbers of his colleagues on one occasion or another.& #39;
& #39;He is a thug, and he over the years, I think, gratuitously or otherwise, offended large numbers of his colleagues on one occasion or another.& #39;
The sleekit Kinnock makes his first ghastly appearance. Like an unwelcome guest.
The vile Hattersley once again making sexist remarks: this time about Jill Craigie who he accuses of vaulting ambition.
Benn, very badly advised by his colleagues.
The vile Hattersley once again making sexist remarks: this time about Jill Craigie who he accuses of vaulting ambition.
Benn, very badly advised by his colleagues.
Waiting for the Shitehouse Declaration now.
Owen: & #39;it was clear that the machinery of the Party had been taken over& #39;.
He& #39;s talking about democracy again, lads. By taking over, he means votes were cast at conference and the side he didn& #39;t like, won said votes.
Owen: & #39;it was clear that the machinery of the Party had been taken over& #39;.
He& #39;s talking about democracy again, lads. By taking over, he means votes were cast at conference and the side he didn& #39;t like, won said votes.
Benn, reasonably:
& #39;I mean it is about democracy. Is democracy about giving people a chance to participate, or is it all vetted and approved, and you& #39;ve just got to sit back and do what you& #39;re told...The more I think about it democracy is what is controversial in Britain....
& #39;I mean it is about democracy. Is democracy about giving people a chance to participate, or is it all vetted and approved, and you& #39;ve just got to sit back and do what you& #39;re told...The more I think about it democracy is what is controversial in Britain....
not Socialist rhetoric, nobody cares about Socialist rhetoric any more than they care about what a Bishops say on a Sunday about brotherhood...but when you raise the democratic question, then I tell you, you& #39;re in trouble.
That was what the whole thing was about, and still is within the Labour Party.
Ain& #39;t that the truth.
Ain& #39;t that the truth.
Kinnock singing the Red Flag like John Fucking Terry, the fraud.
The Shitehouse Declaration.
Benn: & #39;the reality is that 10% of the PLP left the Party and then tried their best to destroy it and had full media support.& #39;
The Shitehouse Declaration.
Benn: & #39;the reality is that 10% of the PLP left the Party and then tried their best to destroy it and had full media support.& #39;
& #39;They provided a focus of former Labour Cabinet Ministers who could be used to destroy the Labour Party. That& #39;s what they did. That was their only function. They never had the slightest prospect of winning electoral victory at all.& #39;
Remember: Labour led in the polls from 1980-81
Remember: Labour led in the polls from 1980-81
End of Part One.
I shall return to this, narrative steering apart, fairly well balanced documentary.
You should watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrO72C1WQ0&list=PLBD1ADBFF6B7FD052&index=1">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
I shall return to this, narrative steering apart, fairly well balanced documentary.
You should watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrO72C1WQ0&list=PLBD1ADBFF6B7FD052&index=1">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
