Annie and I went to see my all time political hero Tony Benn last night (Thursday) in Birmingham Town Hall. The event was called 'An evening with Tony Benn'Here are a few facts:
*Tony will be 83 in a couple of weeks
*He spent over 50 years as a Member of Parliament
*He is as sharp as a tack and bright as a button mentally
*Birmingham Town Hall was sold out with almost 1000 people in the audience
*Tony got a standing ovation
Here are two wonderful quotes from two hours of brilliant oratory
‘If you are looking for a leader don’t look up to a platform – look next door’
‘My country is the world – my religion is to do good’
I am unashamedly biased but I do not think there can be a better role model in politics for integrity, commonsense and honesty than Tony Benn.
I pray that he carries on campaigning and working for many more years to come.
If you want to see Tony in action passionately illustrating his beliefs take a look at this UTube clip of Tony where he takes US spokesman John Bolton to task on BBC TV Question Time.
Thanks Tony for yet more inspiration. Good men are few.
2 comments:
Please allow me to compliment you on your choice of hero, political or otherwise. I watched several of the other clips where Mr. Benn comments on the NHs with Michael Moore. His observations on how people can be controlled by keeping them frightened and demoralized, and therefore not voting, is profound in it's clarity and evident in our political system over here....by both of our parties. "We don't want people educated, healthy and confident, they would get out of control." How true is that? Thank you sir, good men are few and you and Mr. Benn are indeed good men!
Thanks for that Dave. I realise I am biased but Tony Benn is about the best role model one could have in life as well as politics. He cares deeply for his family and is a principled man. I’m pretty sure the vast majority of politicians are motivated for the right reasons. Tony Benn happens to be outstanding among them. I wish you could have been there on Thursday evening to experience almost 1000 people captivated by every word uttered by this remarkable 83 year old. Even Tony’s staunchest opponents – and they are many of them – could not fail to have been impressed. The standing ovation was well deserved. I hope he continues to inspire people for many more years. He shows no sign of slowing down and is quite an icon for young people too. He speaks every year at the world famous Glastonbury Rock Festival to thousands of rockers! Long may it continue.
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