Tony Benn quotes

Tony Benn was a British politician and prominent figure in the Labour Party, known for his left-wing views. A passionate advocate for social justice and democracy, he influenced generations of activists and politicians. He became one of the most respected and charismatic voices in British political history. Here are 93 of his quotes:

First they ignore you, then they say you're mad, then dangerous, then there's a pause and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you. (Tony Benn)
All war represents a failure of diplomacy. View quote
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. View quote
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. View quote
Tony Benn
The general election of 1983 has produced one important result that has passed virtually without comment in the media. It is that, for the first time since 1945, a political party with an openly socialist policy has received the support of over eight and a half million people. This is a remarkable development by any standards and it deserves some analysis ... the 1983 Labour manifesto commanded the loyalty of millions of voters and a democratic socialist bridge-head in public understanding and support can be made. View quote
Tony Benn
I sometimes wish the trade unionists who work in the mass media, those who are writers and broadcasters and secretaries and printers and lift operators of Thomson House would remember that they too are members of our working class movement and have a responsibility to see that what is said about us is true. View quote
Tony Benn
When we have a majority we will do it. I think the days of the Lords are quite genuinely numbered. View quote
Tony Benn
Choice depends on the freedom to choose and if you are shackled with debt you don't have the freedom to choose. View quote
Tony Benn
I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten people and secondly, demoralize them. View quote
Tony Benn
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. View quote
Tony Benn
Britain is the only colony in the British Empire and it is up to us now to liberate ourselves. (Tony Benn)
Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure. View quote
Tony Benn
If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people. View quote
Tony Benn
An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. View quote
Tony Benn
The flag of racialism which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over Dachau and Belsen. View quote
Tony Benn
When you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split? View quote
Tony Benn
Through me the energy policy of the whole Common Market is being held up. Without opening old wounds, it pleases me no end. View quote
Tony Benn
We have been in recess since July, and during that time there have been a fuel crisis, a Danish no vote, the collapse of the Euro and a war in the middle east, but what is our business tomorrow? The Insolvency Bill [Lords]. It ought be called the Bankruptcy Bill [Commons], because we play no role. View quote
Tony Benn
The 1973 Labour Conference will have before it the most radical programme the Party has prepared since 1945. View quote
Tony Benn
Change from below, the formulation of demands from the populace to end unacceptable injustice, supported by direct action, has played a far larger part in shaping British democracy than most constitutional lawyers, political commentators, historians or statesmen have ever cared to admit. Direct action in a democratic society is fundamentally an educational exercise. View quote
Tony Benn
Anyone from abroad will tell you that it is the class system that really lies at the root of our problems, economic and industrial. The House of Lords symbolises that. (Tony Benn)
It is wholly wrong to blame Marx for what was done in his name, as it is to blame Jesus for what was done in his. View quote
Tony Benn
Britain's continuing membership of the Community would mean the end of Britain as a completely self-governing nation and the end of our democratically elected Parliament as the supreme law making body in the United Kingdom. View quote
Tony Benn
Had a long talk to the Chinese First Secretary at the embassy - a very charming man called Liao Dong - and said how much I admired Mao Tse tung or Zedong, the greatest man of the twentieth century. He said that I couldn't admire Mao more than he did. I asked him how Mao was viewed now. He said Mao was 70 per cent right and 30 per cent wrong; the Cultural Revolution didn't work. He said he had been named after Mao - it was amusing. View quote
Tony Benn
I think the SDP really is a very right-wing party. In a funny way it's more right-wing than Mrs. Thatcher because Mrs. Thatcher is an old-fashioned liberal, if you know what I mean, she believes in market forces and small government. But my knowledge and experience of the SDP is that they believe in a centralised system, they believe in a federal Europe in which we would only be a province under Brussels, they believe in retaining the American bases, they want a statutory pay policy so they would govern the wages of everybody without proper negotiation. I think they're a very hard right party and I think the Labour Party which has now got a decent policy as a result of all the work we've done is going to pick up a lot of support this year. View quote
Tony Benn