Tony Benn dead at 88: Updates as tributes pour in for Labour veteran
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has described Tony Benn as a true friend of the Irish people following his support for a united Ireland.
His republicanism and dealings with Sinn Fein long before IRA and loyalist ceasefires which ended the Northern Ireland conflict in 1994 provoked controversy, particularly his invitation to Mr Adams to come to Westminster.
The former West Belfast MP said: "Tony was a true friend of the Irish people.
"A principled politician and activist, he spoke up passionately for the idea of a united Ireland. He remained an avid supporter of Irish freedom throughout his life."
Mr Benn met the Sinn Fein leader on numerous occasions. He invited Mr Adams to a meeting in 1983 during the height of the IRA's campaign when the republican party's tolerance of violence was anathema to most in Great Britain.
After a visit by Mr Adams was blocked in 1993 he correctly predicted that he would eventually visit Downing Street, to become a regular occurrence during peace process negotiations under the Blair administration.
Many unionists profoundly disagreed with his stance.
East Antrim Democratic Unionist MP Sammy Wilson said: "He just followed the standard doctrinaire left wing view that republicans are good and unionists are bad. That permeated the left wing of theLabour Party."
Mr Benn, who died on Friday at the age of 88, once campaigned to have the Queen's head removed from stamps. He was a republican, advocating an end to the monarchy.
His interest in Northern Ireland was long-standing and helped keep the issue on the Westminster agenda.
Mr Adams, now a public representative in the Irish parliament, added: "Tony was a champion of the downtrodden and the voiceless in Britain, in Ireland and throughout the world.
"I met Tony many times over the years. He was a thoughtful and highly intelligent human being and a genuinely nice man, whom I will greatly miss."
Seems like a lot of people want to lay floral tributes to Tony Benn.
A spokesman for the Benn family said: "In response to a number of queries about where floral tributes to Tony Benn might be laid, they can be placed on the north side of Parliament Square."
Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has paid tribute to Tony Benn, who regularly attended the event.
He said: "Tony Benn achieved legendary status in his own lifetime as he fought to improve the lot of the working-class people of this country.
"As a politician, he presented his arguments in such a way that even his opponents couldn't resist his charm.
"We were very privileged to have him starring at the Left Field political forum on so many occasions.
"His absence this year will be really sad."
A nice tweet and photo here from another left-wing icon Billy Bragg here.
Looking very youthful outside the Houses of Parliament.
Tony Benn disproved the old cliche that you become more right wing with age. He remains an inspirationpic.twitter.com/NC8YeMl6cx
— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) March 14, 2014
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Tony Benn was a friend and an inspiration to me personally and to the whole labour movement.
"He believed history shows us that big progressive changes in society are driven not by political elites, but by the endeavours of ordinary working people. His commitment to our causes meant that he was a familiar face at union events from Congress to the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs festival.
"His unceasing willingness to march alongside us and the deep sincerity he showed to everyone he encountered in the labour movement means that he leaves many friends, and has personally inspired the activism of many people from all walks of life."
In Bristol a book of condolence has been opened for Tony Benn in City Hall, close to a statute of the former city MP.
Mayor George Ferguson said: "Tony Benn was undoubtedly the most remarkable politician to represent a Bristol constituency since Edmund Burke.
"He was a great orator and I always admired him on a personal level and stood side by side with him on such issues as human and civil rights.
"I shall have enduring memories of him - not least my last conversation with him while waiting for a bus by Waterloo Bridge reminiscing about his time as a young MP in Bristol of which he was enormously proud."
We've just published a gallery of some of Tony Benn's best quotes.
"I'm not a reluctant peer but a persistent commoner" is probably my favourite.
Apparently, Tony Benn recorded this message for Channel 4 to be broadcast after his death.
It's a very touching tribute, thanking his friends and family for their support during his career.
"I'll check that on transmission," he jokes at the end.
Tony Benn famously struck up an unlikely friendship with glamorous newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky.
The pair met after she interviewed him at his home in 2003.
Benn once wrote to the editor of The Telegraph to complain after their friendship was described as 'platonic'.
Kaplinsky said today: "Others have rightly paid tribute to Tony's status and significance as a political giant. I will miss him as a friend. Ours was an unlikely friendship. He was an endlessly kind and thoughtful man.
"He never forgot a birthday or an important family occasion and I was often touched and surprised by his thoughtfulness. He famously left the House of Commons to spend more time on politics. His dedication to public life was undimmed until the end."
Andrew Tift's parliamentary portrait of Tony Benn is wonderful.
The little details are the best, spot the Mars bar.
RIP Tony Benn painting by Andrew Tiftpic.twitter.com/8ACq2pOrFL
— Graham Dolphin (@gmdolphin) March 14, 2014
Some words from Boris Johnson on the death of Tony Benn.
"Politics will be duller with his passing," he said.
"Tony Benn was a great democrat - even if his economic policies were eccentric. He once told me, the key question to ask anyone in power: 'Who elected you - and how can I vote to remove you from office?'
"That, as he rightly said, is the question that needs to be asked of Brussels today."
Here's some thoughts from Mirror columnist Alison Phillips on the death of Tony Benn.
She interviewed only last summer.
"He may not have been as quick as he once was but neither his intellect or strength of conviction had been ground down by the passing of the years," she writes.
"Rather he was as much a conviction politician as ever. Convictions that were anathema to many.
"Yet even his harshest opponents who found him intransigent and entirely lacking in pragmatism had to admit such dedication to principle was deeply impressive."
This is Tony Benn at his very best.
Giving a history on neoliberalism in 2012.
Here's a video from the Press Association about the death of Tony Benn.
His family say funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has issued a tribute to Tony Benn.
He said: "Tony Benn was one of those rare things - a genuine radical for all his life. He was a fearless campaigner and a legendary figure for the Labour movement.
"Even when I disagreed with him, I always had enormous respect for his brilliance, his passion and his commitment to the people of Britain and of the world. My thoughts are with his family - with whom he was very close."
Here's some audio of Tony Benn talking on the BBC's Jeremy Vine show in 2012.
He's talking about death and how he was not frightened of it.
Tony Benn won admirers from all walks of life.
Here's some tribute from comedian Johnny Vegas.
RIP Tony Benn. A man who chose to live by his principles, not merely preach them. Politics, indeed life, has lost a true moral champion
— Johnny Vegas (@JohnnyVegasReal) March 14, 2014
Another example of Tony Benn's youthful spirit here.
In 2012 he was speaking to an audience of 300 when he recalled peeing into his car engine when he was caught short during a traffic jam.
He said: "I won't go into it in too much detail... but I was in my car in the middle of London last year and it was obvious there was going to be an accident.
"Then I had a brilliant idea. I got out, lifted the hood, and did what I think they call 'quantative easing.' As I was doing it, a man stopped and said, 'Your radiator's leaking'."
Mr Benn, speaking in Gloucester Guildhall, went on: "My message is, 'Don't ever be afraid of old age'."
I lovely excerpt from Tony Benn's diary here, recalling his appearance on Da Ali G show.
He later wrote an article for the Guardian defending Sasha Baron Cohen's show and explaining how it had led to lots of young people speaking tom him about politics.
"In fact, the programmes were exactly what Channel 4 had said they would be - a chance to present politics to young people," he wrote.
"Ali G is a very clever man, and I am beginning to wonder if that was what he actually intended to do. If so, perhaps he can help explain New Labour by interviewing the prime minister about the Third Way."
Tony Benn diary entry from 2001 - a letter from Sacha Baron Cohen. pic.twitter.com/jXyhP2K7VZ
— Justin Lewis (@Mumbler3) March 14, 2014
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