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.

A link was also posted on twitter, and at the very same time LM was trolling Ian Katz over the appointment of Wheldon as Newsnight economic editor.
The women is a fucking Holy menace. Not very bright, despite an Oxbridge educ.
Her twitter feed is a hoot, ie"When I think of Muslims in the UK I think of (names various prominent people) and Sunny Hundal.
Sunny tweets her back, Erm Louise I'm a Sikh.

She's ridiculous.

Shame on MNHQ.

Hi. I did just read this, probably because I get a google alert on my name.

I post because this reaction, here, is interesting, not because I have to "explain myself." I'm proud of the eulogy and glad I was asked to do it.

Hard to know where to start but let's do it like this:

1. No, of course I wasn't paid. I doubt any blogger is.

1. The reason I learned of his death through Mumsnet, you utter muppets, is that I Iive in New York. I was asleep when his death was announced in the UK. I woke to an email from Kate telling me the bad news and asking me to blog.

1. I think she approached me because a month or so ago she had noticed my tweets in support and tribute when it was announced Benn was seriously ill in hospital. Although I can't speak for her, my guess is that respect from a political opponent seemed more telling than respect from an ally.

1. Kudos to her and to the site in general for resisting the ugly impulse shown in the comments here to turn the place into a left-wing-only haunt. It's a pity when any woman's network becomes that one dimensional. The idea that your politics renders you incapable of respecting an opponent is one Benn, in his life, utterly rejected. Nobody thought he "had a nerve" writing tributes to Thatcher when he fought manfully against everything she stood for. They thought it spoke well of him.

1. I am proud of the piece, which I think is (since we're debating it) a good bit of writing. While the Mumsnet BTLers don't like it and are rubbishing it, the reaction I had on Twitter to the piece was totally different, mostly from a Labour folks. I'm on holiday in Puerto Rico with the kids where the ice cream is great but the Internet is bad enough I can't get to a computer, or I would copy and paste. The reaction here does not reflect badly on me, or my intentions, or Mumsnet's; it reacts badly on (most of) you.

1. If I were teaching feminist studies I might print this little lot off as a lesson on how not to do it. Sexist trope after sexist trope has been flung at me here by other women who presumably call themselves feminists. "Vacuous"? Let's see; 3 grade A A levels, young poet of the year, simultaneously admitted to read History at Cambridge and English at Oxford, graduated 2:1 from the latter with a speciality in Anglo-Saxon and early mediaeval English; was secretary of the Union. Published my first book at 22 and sold two million of them. MP, mother of three, national newspaper columnist for nearly two years, still writing books, still working with Save the Children; I will pit my "vacuosity" against your life's achievements any day of the week and twice on Sundays, anonymous.

And then there's the lovely line about "acting as a geisha" to my husband because I sinfully took his name; like Mrs. Thatcher, or Mrs. Pankhurst for that matter. What, in preference to my father's? It's a choice; I don't judge others on how they make theirs, but that is the conservative and libertarian in me, rather than the censorious leftie in you, "geisha" girl. I can't check on this phone but she was likely anonymous too.

So then, on to the piece. Why ask somebody who opposed Benn's politics and never met him? Maybe because for a man to impact the world, he has to affect more than his immediate circle. What made this socialist beloved to an arch political foe? What does it say about Benn's character that he inspired this?

It says he was a damned sight better of a man than most of you are women. It says that he understood and valued fighting for belief, true belief, ideology, which is an ugly word in today's politics - "oh, he's so ideological". Benn was an absolute ideologue in way rarely seen today. I cannot and do not praise his politics; that would be gross hypocrisy. Even within the Labour movement, his politics were not embraced by the mainstream. As he said "capitalism has failed". I don't believe a word of that.

But I did respect and like Benn. He meant what he said and he did what he promised to do. He fought without rancour or hatred, which is at the heart of what I saw in the comments thread today. His last, lovely message for Channel Four, which I saw after writing my piece, said "I'm sorry if I've given any offence.". No; no, you have not. You were a credit not just to Labour but to politics and politicians in general. You preferred to stand firm rather than throw mud.

And why write that it showed he'd been raised by a feminist mother? I think his kindness to, and admiration for, Thatcher derives directly from that upbringing. He was the kind of strong, selfless well-mannered and kind son we all hope to raise. There was no misogyny in him; nor did he use politics as an excuse for it. The left-wing women on this thread have shown more misogyny here than Benn ever showed in his life.

There are rare occasions when I think to myself that politicians get a bad rap from the public, but this is one of them. Not about your reaction to me and a loving piece I wrote, which I find merely contemptible, but rather when I think how much better than you the Labour activists and MPs I know are. It's clear to me that you would all be horrified if you could see s

Whoops - well that's what you get trying to type extensively on a phone. "That you would all be horrified if you could see the strong, close friendships Labour and Tory MPs have in the c

Nice spoof, but she's annoying, not illiterate.

And I bet she knows about bloggers getting paid, too.

Commons and even as activists. We eat and drink and socialize together. Go out together. Write each other letters of personal support. Mostly because anybody who's actually been in politics knows that what it really involves is working your hide off to try and make life better for other people, in one of the highest-stress careers there is. Benn's regard for Thatcher would only surprise a non-politician; they were cut from the same cloth.

He was a great man. A lovely, kind man, not a hypocrite, one willing to sacrifice immensely on the altar of ideology yet remember his humanity as he did so. I was thrilled to pay tribute to him, and your derogation I set aside based on the reaction the piece got on Twitter. And normally indeed I would let the "vacuous Tory geisha" woman-hating rubbish stand, but it's a warm evening here, and I thought it was probably worth calling you on your lazy sexism and general ill-nature; and reminding myself that Tony Benn was such a loss to us all, because he represented everything you are not.

I am really hoping this is a joke. But it's setting my teeth on edge even so, and to be fair to the woman, I've never read anything she's written and thought she honestly didn't have a decent education and basic command of English.

Even as a joke, don't you think it's a bit crap to call this 'woman hating'?

No. I think calling a woman a "geisha" because she chooses to live with her husband is misogyny; and I think calling somebody with a string of achievements to her name, academic and otherwise, "vacuous" is equally so.

I would love to hear the academic pedigree, and read the C.V., of the woman who called me vacuous; I have every confidence mine would stand up pretty well against hers.

Yes, but she might know how to use basic punctuation.

I agree completely that calling someone a 'geisha' for those reasons is misogynistic. However, you might consider that calling someone a 'geisha' for any reason other than they are, in fact, a member of said profession is rather dubious, mightn't you?

It is clear that people with qualifications can be vacuous. Many people have failed to get firsts at Oxbridge and develop chips on their shoulders - but the better type don't let it get to them, and they become more than the sum of what they did as teenagers/ young adults.

I'm still crossing my fingers this is parody, but parody is usually funny.

I was told a 2:1 indicated "becoming and manageable intelligence". Anyway, I was too busy hacking the union and going to gigs to study properly. I did fine. It was never my ambition to be a Fellow of All Souls

That sounds lovely.

But I think, if you read the thread, you will discover that the point people are making is that perhaps someone who was too busy with 'gigs' and becoming a Tory rent-a-gob was not the best choice as a serious eulogist for someone many people respected.

Yes the consensus of the thread was that Louise Mensch was just a woefully inadequate choice.

If MN thought it would be a great angle (sigh) to get a Tory to write an obit for Tony Benn, there are plenty of better options than Louise Mensch.

Maybe try finding someone who actually met him? Not someone who would cobble together a few anecdotes about Thatcher surrounded by fluff.

Well said, Louise.

I was going to post that this thread should have been deleted by MN because it was not fair to Louise. But I thought that Louise would probably want to reply to it. MN asked Louise to write and she did and it was respectful and sincere.

Many of the replies have not been respectful. Words such as "shoddy", "crappy", "lightweight" and many others.

If the same tribute had been written by a former Labour MP, I doubt they would have elicited the same response.

I think it is a reflection of the usual political argy-bargy and leftwing anti-Tory sentiment, and that is all fine on most threads. But I think it is misplaced on a thread where someone has been asked to write about the death of a great political figure who was part of public life and a household name in this country for decades. When it comes to honouring a great political figure, petty political squabbles and sentiments should be put aside.

Louise's tribute was sincere, heartfelt and respectful. It was a shame that the response in many posts was not.

I also said nothing wrong with the original piece. The left always think they have the moral high ground and usually they don't.

I stand by my sad observation though that far too many women put their man before their careers and that that is morally wrong and damaging to women as a whole. Why isn't Mr Mensch in London doing the school run and cleaning the house whilst Mrs M is in Parliament? That's the LM betrayal which many of us on right and left seek to ensure is not repeated. Why is it always the women who cede to the men?

Am genuinely curious - how do you manage to "simultaneously admitted to read History at Cambridge and English at Oxford"? I didn't know it was possible to apply to both in the same year.

'how do you manage to "simultaneously admitted to read History at Cambridge and English at Oxford"?'

Haven't you heard of multi-tasking?

It is never wise to make these things personal. I have certainly had my fair share of mumsnet detractors. Talk just about the issues and rise above the personal criticism (but not of course my very important questions).

You can't at the moment apply to Oxford and Cambridge. In fact it's a very interesting current issue, more interesting than either Benn or Mensch. The OFT are investigating. Is it anti competitive to have that restriction which does not apply to other universities? I think it can be justified as in the interests of the entrance system and candidates but let us see what the OFT says...pause to check... the latest 14 March:- www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2014/14-14#.UyViN4XRNRs is here. It looks like they are still looking into it and passing it on as an active matter to the new CMA.

Not quite sure if you are being serious with that comment Claig It's not a case of multi-tasking Claig, it's a case of limitations in the university admissions system, as LauraBridges has pointed out.

'It is never wise to make these things personal.'

Exactly, and that is why this thread is so disappointing.

LauraBridges never gets personal in her replies. She always deals in ideas. And that was what Tony Benn did too. He dealt with political ideas and that is the way in which he opposed other ideologues such as Thatcher. He challenged her ideas and did not make it personal.

But not all politicians are like that and not all people are like that. We know about the Labour MPs and candidates who have made jokes about the Brighton bombing where Thatcher was nearly killed. We know about people like George Galloway and what they said about Thatcher's death and funeral. Even Bob Crow, whom I actually liked a lot, could not rise above the personal where Thatcher was concerned.

And that is why Tony Benn was different.

Louise is right to talk about an ill-will and lack of generosity of spirit of some posters.

I disagree with Louise's view that it is a good thing that politicians from different parties should

"We eat and drink and socialize together. Go out together. Write each other letters of personal support."

I don't want them to socialize. I want them to fight each other based on ideas. I don't want them to be friendly, I want them to be beastly. And it is because I want them to be able to criticise each other vehemently when they get things wrong and not let their friendships and socializing prevent them from doing so. I want the luvvies in quangos and the Baronesses and the Lords and the high and mighty to be called out for what they have done when ordinary people's homes are flooded because these people did not dredge rivers. I want politicians to be like Bob Crow in fighting for the rights of ordinary people, but unlike Bob Crow it does not have to get personal. Like Tony benn, it should be based on ideas and actions, not on personal issues.

The shame of this thread is that it has shown up an ill-feeling and personal hostility to Louise. It has also shown the cowardice of MNHQ who actually asked Louise to write a tribute and then said that they had called it wrong and would try and get it right. They didn't call it wrong, some posters called it wrong. And to even consider Russell Brand instead of Louise Mensch is an insult to everybody's intelligence. Russell Brand is a clown whose knowledge of politics is limited. He even advocates that people should not bother voting. Unlike him, Louise Mensch has actually been an MP and knows something about politics.

Again, wasn't Katie Hopkins free?

Hmm. And I wonder why you were Googling your name? Did you think you were going to come here and find us all cooing about your words?

I don't doubt you have good qualifications - but you have no clue about the posters here and their own backgrounds, and I suspect many of them can easily match if not exceed yours.

But that's irrelevant.

The point that we are making here is not, actually, about you, Louise - it's the choice of you as someone to write this piece. Because you are a political lightweight by comparison with Tony Benn, and there are far better qualified, current politicians who could have been asked to do this.

You can't apply (and therefore receive an offer from) both Cambridge and Oxford. It's never been possible.

Thatcher, Pankhurst, Mensch

lols

Goody, Hopkins, Mensch

Oh do calm down dear.

I think you will find that the majority of posters thought that the blog would have been better written by someone who actually knew the man - Ann Widdecombe was mentioned; she's hardly a frothing leftie, is she?

And this goes back to what BIWI says - it's the choice of you to write the piece.