Back in 1983 as a young whippersnapper I stalked the streets of Ealing North to try and get Hilary Benn elected as an MP. It was not a great year for Labour and we lost - big-style.
In those days, the younger Benn was still a Bennite.He has since eschewed those politics and become a part of the Establishment.
I know, and applaud, his work at the DFID and have no reason to doubt his sincerity. But how can anyone seriously suggest, as he did on tonight's Question Time, that we have left Iraq "a better place" following the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraquis and the soldiers who came back in body bags. We did NOT go into Iraq, actually, to play some paternalist role. We went there because the then Prime Minister assured us that Saddam Hussein was a serious threat to Western democracy thanks to his WMDs. Weapons which did not , er, ....exist.
Benn's defence of an appalling foreign policy is deeply saddening given his father's utter commitment to the anti-war movement.And, speaking as someone who knocked on doors tirelessly to try and elect him all those years ago. it also shows how many of the people we had faith in in the 1980's have let us down.
Posts
4 comments:
I liked the Benn diaries, but Hilary Benn has always struck me as a bit humourless, a born-politico, able and competent but humourless.
I could be wrong, but that's the way he tends to come over.
Saw him on the repeat on BBC Parliament. A bit of a botting paper, blancmange character. Like John Major but with a personality and integrity bypass.
Wasn't Hilary Benn the candidate in Wembley North in 1983??
Didn't know ou were darn sarf backthen. I remember HB (then an Ealing councillor) wanted to come and speak at my school which was in the constituency in 87 but the parents vetoed it as they thought he'd scare off their girls with his left-wing claptrap. I think the reaction of most pupils though was "who's she?"
The Labour vote collapsed, experiencing the second biggest swing to the Tories in the country (more to do with local council rate rise than junior Benn).
Post a Comment