Guest post from Louise Mensch: "Tony Benn represented something truly valuable in the world"

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I was so sad to hear - via Mumsnet in fact - of the death of Tony Benn, a man I never actually met. I did once tell his son Hillary, a Labour MP, how much I admired his father - but that was a close as I got.

Tony Benn represented something truly valuable in the world. He acted on what he believed. For his love of socialism, he was prepared to walk away from a peerage, and even from the nobility of his family name. No longer Viscount Stansgate, he wouldn't even allow people to call him Anthony Wedgewood-Benn - he was to be "Tony Benn". And so he remained, until he died.

There was that rumpled, brilliant look about the man that is so endearing to our clever, messy nation. Like JRR Tolkien, whom he resembled, he loved to smoke a pipe; a particularly English vice. He drank tea, and was well-read. He seems never to have regretted walking away from "my Lord" and the bowing and scraping of the era.

Benn also possessed, as well as conviction, a great generosity of spirit. His respect and affection for Margaret Thatcher showed him to be a man who understood that political opposition does not have to, and should not, equal enmity (more Labour MPs wrote me kind notes after I resigned my seat than Conservative ones, by the way). Benn said of Thatcher "she was a signpost, not a weathervane". That was why he respected her; and it is why I respected him.

He had convictions; he lived those convictions. He was true to himself, bright, and kind. He was raised by a feminist mother, and it showed, in the best possible way. Labourlist drew my attention to his generous piece on Thatcher which told this story:

"I remember her at the funeral of MP Eric Heffer. I was asked to make a speech and as I was waiting, there was someone behind me coughing. It was Mrs Thatcher, and at the end I thanked her for coming and she burst into tears. She had come out of respect for someone whose opinions she disagreed with."

I believe that there are a great many MPs and commentators who did not share any of Benn's beliefs, but who realise today that in him, we have lost a national treasure; a genuine servant of the people, who did not need to be a nobleman, to be a noble man. May many of us involved in politics on all sides learn from his lessons of authenticity, humility, generosity, and kindness.

Yes. But somehow this thread has become all about Ms Mensch, hasn't it?

Tony Benn was a fantastic human being, and an amazing politician. And here we are, wrangling about someone who is only 'big' on Twitter.

It makes me sad.

Couldn't have said it better, BIWI.

Justine, everyone (bar two posters) thought you made the wrong decision. And there were requests for the thread to be deleted on Friday night, 48 hours ago, because it was pretty obvious it was all going to end in tears.

I think it's very, very clear where MNHQ's loyalties lie these days.

I don't think there's anything to add Justine.

Mumsnetters were vocal about choice of guest poster on death of TB.

Guest came on to defend self.

There has been a bit of argy bargy.

You have apologised for making wrong choice.

Guest poster no doubt feels a bit sore but if users of the site feel the choice of guest was wrong then it is unforunately going to come across a bit personal-like.

(Also, guest poster did some very funny stuff about her qualifications which you can't expect everyone to just politely ignore).

But I would have thought you're ok to leave the thread and get on with your evening .

Well I'm not sure I can put my thoughts into words but I will try.

FGS Mumsnet - get over yourselves and did you mean to be so rude?!

I mean it's fine to say to "Mumsnet we think you asked the wrong person to write because we loved Tony Benn", but IMO it's not fine to criticise someone who wrote from the heart about a man they respected who had died, or critique their writing, or bring up their life choices. Doesn't matter what you think of them personally - show some respect.

Personally I have a lot of respect for LM, alongside my respect for all women who make it on the male dominated UK politics scene. Thank you Louise.

Oh, I see, crochet, you believe it's fine to refer to Tony Benn's 'failure' on a thread claiming to pay tribute to his memory, but not fine to critique that?

Yes, makes total sense, that does.

Tea...yep :(

This still going on?

I'll admit I have always found Mensch unbearable in every sense since the terrible Ched Evans gaff.
That was unforgivable, for me. I cannot imagine how the poor woman felt.

Sometimes one has to step outside a situation to see how ridiculously poorly you are coming across. Pushing back can sometimes actually seem a bit like looking an utter skinless idiot

If you put a piece of writing on a public discussion board, then you have to accept that it will be criticised, possibly in robust terms.

Why not have more perspectives, though?

I can think of dozens of reasons....

I really liked Tony Benn, I'm actually pretty devastated that he has died and I think modern politics no longer has no time for people like him. I think we've lost him when we need him most, with the villainisation of the feckless poor, the dismantling of the welfare state, the stealth privatisation of the NHS and the weird schools land-grab. We are living through a real political turning point and that makes his death more than a mere personal tragedy. I don't know much about Louise Mensch (apart from her string of achievements and academic pedigree) but I think it's fair to say that not even her best friends could say that her 'tribute' wasn't erring towards the trite (bowing and scraping, the tea, the pipe, national treasure).It's not a tribute, it's journalism, and it's not appropriate. He was a political giant, not some cute, tea drinking, national treasure. He's barely cold, so until the passing of time has altered our perspective on Tony Benn's death and his political and social legacy, MNHQ should have thought about in what way this was sensible rather than;
'Who can we get to write a bit on this Benn chap'
'Well Louise Mensch used to be a politician and she's in our bloggers network, she'll do.'

Did you even read it through before you posted it?

MNHQ, You are not NN, you do not have dead air to fill, you do not have to provide people for debate and discussion and you do not need to 'mark the occasion' with blogs. This whole exercise is just so unnecessary and as a Benn fan, it was actually a bit upsetting to click on a thread that I thought was going to be....something, and see him so belittled by, what is to my mind, thoughtless, hackneyed, lazy, crass, self-serving journalism.

Well said MsMischief.

I'm sorry LM hasn't enjoyed the backlash.

Next time, everyone can make better, informed, thoughtful decisions.

Really good post, MsMischief

I'm angry about this. Tony Benn was a great man, and he deserves better.

I try very hard on Mumsnet, no matter what thread I'm posting on, to abide by the talk guidelines, and to afford other posters respect. But this thread is sorely trying.

I am personally gutted that LM has not repeated her "pygmies of the left" comment she made on twitter following Thatchers death. I snorted tea through my nose when I read that.
Tony Benn you were an inspiring, dangerous and challenging true socialist to the end. An absolute inspiration to this Pygmy of the Left. (2:2 in law from Wolves Poly, should have been 2:1 but watched too much This Morning and drank too many bottles of K cider).

Has anyone mentioned a storm in a tea mug yet?

MN blog network tweeted this thread 2 hours ago. 'Catch up on Louise Mensch's moving tribute '.
I don't know what to say about that.

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Sorry. That was rather redundant. I was just having a 'What the fuck' moment.

Laura You have a very short memory I wrote quite politely on other threads about Benn and Crow despite saying I was sorry they were both dead Would that include the thread where you were deleted for an abusive post referring to Bob Crow being fat? If that was polite I'd hate to see you being rude!

I am very sad that this now seems to be more about Mumsnet and Louise Mensch than remembering a true political giant. Tony Benn was renowned for his integrity, it is a shame the same principles have not been shown by others even when, apparently, paying tribute to him.

To help draw something else useful out of this (and this issue has already been raised), it would be a jolly good idea to follow @NHAparty on twitter for up-to-date info on the Tories progress at privatising the NHS which is leaving mahooosive contracts in the pockets of financial backers of the Tory party (you know, the one that LM is a member of?).

Tone would undoubtedly agree that being informed, and taking action, to defend this blatant sell-off of a national resource is a Good Thing and would represent something of his legacy. NHAparty will be standing in constituencies where Cabinet members are, and/or where hospital and NHS services being sold off to Tories and their chums will have the biggest local community impact.

The piece is lightweight. For all the reasons stated above. If that disturbs LM, she should up her game. Did nonobe really tell her before her writing's not all that?!

here is NHA's reoccurring headline, noting LibDem complicity, for the next time Clegg talks about the importance of families and their health.

Great post, Piscivorus

I fear that MNHQ has become a bit star struck. Their ethos was to make life easier for parents. Now, something of significance happens, and their reaction is "We must get a name to comment. Let's contact Louise Mensch in New York city ..."

Then when their members object, Justine tries to validate the decision by saying that LM was invited on to the telly to discuss the matter even though we all know that Newsnight invite all kinds of muppets to fill air time.

I didn't call the guest writer vacuous.

But as an ex-politician I don't suppose she would let facts get in the way.

Justine- I am astonished that you think someone who calls a writer a "lightweight" to have made a personal attack. Although as you continue to defend your guest, I suppose I shouldn't be. Perhaps I should go and report all the bad things I said about Helen Fielding when the latest BJ came out? I said far worse than lightweight. I've been known to critique JK Rowling too, shall I go back and report myself for that? (both women I admire greatly however, and both of whom I consider to be brimful of integrity)

To excuse and defend this appalling misjudgement by saying you always go to your bloggers' network is nonplussing in the extreme. It's a bit closed-shop, that kind of attitude, no? Why do you go to your bloggers' network?

You can shout at us all you like, delete the thread if you want (and I expect there will be the clichéd bunfight/no longer about the original OP/not making parents' lives easier platitudes....) but I still reckon that not you, or any writer you might know personally really think that MN's choice of writer was a good idea, or that the piece that was produced was adequate. I know you don't. I wonder (but am not asking for an answer because that would, actually, be unfair of me, and I am meticulously fair) whose idea it really was. Whose finger was on that send button on Friday morning, and if the piece was edited/approved in any way at all, or just published on the back of "well, the guest writer is famous so it's bound to be all right".

When, in the words of Thelma (or was it Louise) it wasn't all right at all.

It's interesting to see that the posts on Twitter and Facebook are entirely in accord with this thread.

Once again...it was me who called her vacuous.
And I stand by that comment.
That "tribute" is the very definition of vacuous.
I would encourage anyone who wants to read a relevant, funny and well written tribute to the late Tony Benn to check out the quality press and leave this sad little corner of the Internet well alone.
Sadly I agree with eccle...MN seems to have become rather star struck (although calling LM a star is a bit of a stretch)