by Benn, Tony
In Britain, Mrs Thatcher got into trouble over the Westland affair and lost Michael Heseltine, the Defence Secretary, and Leon Brittan, the Home Secretary, early in the year. She was in further difficulties about Leyland, and was unpopular also for authorising the use of British bases for the American raid on Libya. Later in the year, Spycatcher led Sir Robert Armstrong to face an arrogant, young, up-and-coming Australian barrister called Malcolm Turnbull; the humiliation should have put the Government into an appalling position; but there was no credible opposition on the part of the Labour Party.
The Labour Party is a story of continuing tragedy. At the end of the year, despite everything that was done to boost Kinnock against the Left, the Tories had a lead of 8 per cent – which is quite unheard of on the eve of an Election after a party has been in government for seven years. It is a tragedy for the Party, but it is no exaggeration to say that 90 per cent of NEC time this year has been spent in trying and expelling people in Liverpool and hounding Militant in a general witch-hunt. It has led to great bitterness, though nobody speaks up for fear of ‘rocking the boat’.
A National Constitutional Committee is being elected; it was established after the Party Conference, in order to take some of the load of expulsions and discipline off the shoulders of the NEC.
The policy of the Party is now vaguer and more muddled than ever before. The ‘Jobs and Industry’ campaign was followed by the ‘Freedom and Fairness’ campaign; and now ‘A Modern Britain in a Modern World’ has been launched to put forward our defence arguments. But actually it is the biggest fallback from our position there could be, because although we are going to decommission the Polaris it doesn’t say when; the Americans will be asked to leave their nuclear bases in Britain by agreement; and the money spent on nuclear weapons is to go into conventional defence. So I don’t think that will help us much.
I do find the House of Commons an extremely unpleasant place at the moment. Talking in the Chamber itself is like being in a zoo where the animals bray at you. The PLP is like an icebox; they are terrified anything you say might lose them their seats. Being on the NEC is like being a member of the Inquisition.
I should think David Owen will try to merge the SDP with the Tory Party and leave the Liberals in the lurch, having used them as a launching pad in the interim – because that man is not going to be content to go through life as just a sort of independent media commentator.
Nevertheless, I look forward immensely to 1987. There will almost certainly be a General Election, and my guess is that, with a completely gutless and right-wing Labour leadership, the Tories could win outright.
Saturday 7 February 1987
Today we heard that now the NGA has pulled out of supporting the strike against Rupert Murdoch. The printers, like the miners, are strong, and that is why the Government has gone for them. Until there is a really big change of attitude by the trade unions, the Labour Movement will continue to be entirely subservient to Thatcher.
Sunday 8 February
We went to see Sally and Hilary’s new baby, who hasn’t got a name yet. He has webs about a third of the length of his toes, and when I looked at mine I found I have the same!
Monday 16 February
Today we had a meeting of the NEC and the Shadow Cabinet – the first, I think, since Neil Kinnock became Leader.
Kinnock introduced the meeting and spoke for about twenty minutes on how we were geared for Election victory. My general impression was of a very insecure chairman of a company addressing shareholders, or rather sales representatives in the field – we were told what to do, and there was no sense of being genuinely consulted at all.
We went on to the polling presentation, and Peter Mandelson said a few words. I find Mandelson a threatening figure for the future of the Party. He came in from the media eighteen months ago and has taken over, and he and Kinnock now work closely together. Whitty is just a figurehead, and Geoff Bish has been pushed into the background.
Then the Shadow Agency, or Shadow Communications Agency as it is called, analysed their findings. They said that there had been a shift from the collective to the individual, and that people were afraid of the loony Left, afraid of the future, afraid of inexperience. It was totally defensive; but on the positive side we had ‘a leader in control’ and so on.
There was a discussion, in which Denis Healey said, ‘Not for the first time, I agree with 95 per cent of what Tony Benn has said. The psychosis of the Cold War has had to be revived to justify the Trident. There are important changes in the Soviet Union, and it would be a historic crime to miss the opportunity that Gorbachev is opening up. The Trident depends on American targeting. Britain is not in the first division any more, it is in decline, and because of the Falklands War and our attitude to South Africa we are not taken seriously in the UN Security Council.’ We had another twenty-five minutes of Neil Kinnock summing up.
Tuesday 17 March
My first visitors at 9 am were Alan Plater, the playwright, Mick Jackson and Sally Hibbin, who are turning Chris Mullin’s book A Very British Coup into a three-part television series. They wanted to ask me what situation would face an incoming radical Prime Minister, what his relations would be with the security services, the Americans, the Governor of the Bank of England, and so on.
In a way, Chris’s book has been a bit overtaken by events in a number of respects. First of all, the likelihood of a left-wing Labour leader is absolutely minimal. Secondly, there won’t be a Labour government. Thirdly, when Chris wrote about ‘dirty tricks’ in 1982 they were considered a bit way out but are now sort of taken for granted. However, the general idea is interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them.
Saturday 28 March
Kinnock and Healey returned from America today, Reagan having given them less than half an hour. It was a disaster, whereas Thatcher’s visit to Moscow has been trumpeted everywhere. It’s sad for the Party, because all Kinnock did was to reassure Reagan that Britain would remain in NATO and never put Labour policy forward at all, as far as I can make out. Healey is angry about it.
Sunday 26 April
A beautiful day, the blossom is out, and London looks lovely.
It is clear the Election will be in June, and the Tories have an 11 per cent lead.
Wednesday 29 April
I was driven early to the BBC for a television interview about Spycatcher and M15. Just before I went on the air, the producer leaned over to my seat and said, ‘You cannot mention any of the allegations in the Wright book.’ Since I was there to discuss the allegations in the Wright book, it seemed to me incredible, so I asked why, and she said, ‘Our lawyers have advised us.’ I was expected to sit there and discuss Spycatcher without saying what it was about I said, ‘I’m very sorry, but I’m not prepared to do that.’
So when we came to the broadcast I not only spelled out the allegations with absolute clarity but mentioned the attempted assassination of Nasser. I also stated that I had been approached just before we went on air not to talk about the allegations.
Monday 11 May
Spent most of the morning waiting for news of the Election date, and it was announced at about 2.15 – 11 June, as we’d expected.
Tuesday 12 May
Went into the Commons, then to the Clause 5 meeting which was being held in Transport House to discuss the manifesto. There was a huge crowd outside with red balloons, and television cameras filming it. Neil was standing on the steps waving – it had all been stage-managed. The members of the Shadow Cabinet and the NEC filed in.
Not having seen the manifesto in advance, I didn’t know what would be in it, but I had typed out a whole range of ‘amendments’, which I called a checklist, and gave copies to Larry Whitty, Audrey Wise, Geoff Bish, Jo Richardson, Joan Maynard, Dennis Skinner, and Linda Douglas, the NEC Young Socialist. Looking round the meeting, I was reminded of Brezhnev’s Central Committee; the same thing which brought the Stalin era to an end in Russia will bring the Labour Party domination of
British politics to an end – an authoritarian, right-wing, passionately anti-democratic streak.
At the end, Kinnock said, ‘We’ve discussed this for two hours, and the meeting has been held in goodwill; nobody should go away with animosity. It is not only policy we’re talking about but our presentation.’ He stressed our unity.
By 30 to 6, which is a ratio of 5 to 1, that meeting overturned Conference policy which itself had been carried by 5 to 1. I couldn’t find anyone sympathetic except our little gang.
Wednesday 13 May
The press today had all the headlines Kinnock would have wanted – ‘Kinnock Beats the Left’ and so on. He wants to begin the Election with a victory over the Left to show he is in charge. The Evening Standard said that, if he wins, he’ll be able to disregard the Left and the Conference. But, if he loses, nobody will be able to say that the Left lost him the Election, because it will be his personal victory or his personal defeat.
Typed my Election address, including a warm tribute to myself, and left it on the photocopier at the Commons. When I returned to retrieve it, Ivan Lawrence and another Tory MP were sitting there with it.
Ivan said, ‘Not bad. If I were a Labour man in Chesterfield, I think I’d vote for you. I’ve never thought of describing myself in such glowing terms; I’ve always left that to my admirers.’
‘I suppose, if you wrote it yourself, you could say it was written by an admirer!’
They laughed.
Friday 15 May
A poll published today gives the Tories an 18 per cent lead. Mrs Thatcher was so confident and clear on the television news, and Kinnock was so boastful and wordy and weak. His popularity is falling rapidly.
Thursday 21 May
I watched the party political broadcast, which opened with the title ‘Kinnock’. It began with a bomber flying, then a bird flying, then Neil and Glenys on a mountain top, then Kinnock talking straight to camera about his inspiration, a woman from Wales saying, ‘We always knew he would make it’; he talked about his parents and Glenys was brought in again. They showed speeches by Kinnock, with tremendous applause. The centre point was his attack on Militant at the Bournemouth Conference, and the camera flashed to Derek Hatton. The high peak of his strength is that he attacked the Militant Tendency. It made my blood run cold.
Friday 22 May
Spent most of the day in Duckmanton and Poolsbrook, mining villages on the outskirts of Chesterfield. Visited a few old people’s homes. Quite a few people said they thought the Kinnock broadcast was brilliant and would have a tremendous impact.
Wednesday 27 May
Got the papers, and the slanging match between the leaders goes on.
Reagan has said how much he admires Mrs Thatcher and how he thinks he would be able to live with a Labour government. His intervention must make people hopping mad, I would imagine.
David Steel has produced a list of ‘101 hard-left’ MPs, and of course I was on it. So was Tam Dalyell! It was astonishing. Even Harry Barnes in Derbyshire North East is listed as a dangerous red!
Thursday 4 June
I went to the market and made two little speeches, and people did listen carefully. There was a round of applause at the second meeting – like a village cricket match when somebody scores a run.
Returned to the NUM offices in the afternoon, and Jack Dash, the old dockers’ leader, had arrived for an Election meeting. He is nearly eighty-one, led many of the dock strikes, is a long-term member of the CP, and a man whom I deeply respect. He had written such a nice letter saying he would like to help, so Johnny Burrows paid his fare up from London and Bas Barker, a Chesterfield trade unionist and CP member, had organised a meeting of about thirty or forty pensioners. He made a marvellous, reflective speech.
Saturday 6 June
Went to the Market Square for the hustings with the other two candidates. There were 4–500 people listening, and it was enormously worth while. There was some friendly heckling. Several old characters turned up – Tommy Tatters with his cap and his placard saying ‘Mrs Thatcher’s worse than Attila the Hun’, and Gloria Havenhand, who used to be leader of the Tory Group on the council, all dolled up. She kept shouting, ‘That! From a man who went to a public school!’ – at which Johnny Burrows replied, ‘That! From a woman with no education!’ Then there was a weird local doctor who asked whether the Americans would press the nuclear button if Labour was elected.
Thursday 11 June
In the car to all the committee rooms and to some polling stations. It appeared from the first results that it was going to be a Tory landslide. Caroline and I walked over to the Winding Wheel centre where the count was, and I did actually worry about my own position.
The media were already beginning their usual chorus about why we had done badly – the hard Left, the loony Left, and so on, although the results weren’t suggesting that at all. Eric Heffer, for example, had a huge increase in his majority from 15,000 to 23,000. Terry Fields and Dave Nellist doubled their majorities in Liverpool Broadgreen and Coventry South East. Chris Mullin won in Sunderland South, increasing the Labour vote, and my majority over the Liberal Alliance candidate was 8,500. It was in the south of England that things went badly for Labour.
13
1987–90
Wednesday 17 June
OUR THIRTY-EIGHTH WEDDING anniversary.
Went to the Commons for the first PLP meeting, and my instinct was to sit and listen and get the feel of it.
At 12.10 Neil Kinnock spoke. He said, ‘This is the most successful campaign in the history of the Party. It has been recognised as such by our opponents and the pundits. It was well organised, the performances were good, and, comparing speech for speech, interview for interview and press conference for press conference, we beat them all along the line. We fought as a team together and we have achieved a great deal. We made gains – for the first time the number of Labour women MPs is up to twenty-one, and for the first time we are a multiracial party, which I hope will affect the self-image of black voters.’ He congratulated the four black and Asian Members, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng, Bernie Grant and Keith Vaz, (the new MPs for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Brent South, Tottenham, and Leicester East).
Kinnock went on, ‘I must mention some failures. One is that we failed to win the Election, and there is no consolation for defeat in any form. Millions will suffer, the young will be isolated, the old will be frightened, the sick and the unemployed will have no prizes; but the result provides a better basis for building up.’
Then, with a lot of rhetorical flourishes, he said, ‘We must show we are in charge of events. We must emphasise freedom. We must seek a refreshment of the values which we inspire. There must be a strategy for dealing with change or we will lose again. There is a great deal to play for.’ He continued in this vein, and became hectoring. ‘With every word, every action and every deed we must support the idea of victory. We must convince people. There is a demand for unity from the Movement to disappoint the commentators, to deny them the splits. The SDP and the Liberals are divided but they are treated with kid gloves. There must be energy and commitment, the characteristic of the future. We must ensure that none of us has to dismiss this group or that group in any interview or be distracted or diverted. We must accept the light burden of self-discipline.’
Dave Nellist observed, ‘We couldn’t win the Election in three and a half weeks. Sixty per cent decided how to vote before the campaign, and there was a lot of time wasted on expulsions. The best swings to Labour were in Liverpool.’ He said he hoped the PLP would fight outside Parliament.
There was a lot of shouting at this.
Clive Soley said, ‘We want to avoid internecine war. The London situation is not the responsibility of the Party or of individuals but of the inherent situation in London.’ That was quite a sensible point.
At 9 Lev Parshin from the Soviet Embassy came to see me at home. I’m sure the security services think it is some deep plot, but all he wanted was a brief
ing on the Election, what I thought of Kinnock’s and Thatcher’s positions, and so on.
Parshin said he would like the television programme ‘Spitting Image’ to be available in the Soviet Union, because it makes fun of Soviet leaders. Altogether, the whole thing was so relaxed. When I look at my diary for the mid-Sixties, I realise the Soviet people I met then were not all that different but they wouldn’t accept criticism.
Sunday 12 July
Chunks of Peter Wright’s book were published in the Sunday Times. I must say, reading his words did make my blood run cold. Here was the American CIA trying to destroy an elected Prime Minister, and Peter Wright himself said that half the MI5 officers were trying to get rid of the Labour Government and that they ‘bugged and burgled’ their way across London. He also referred to the assassination attempt on President Nasser.
Sunday 2 August
Turned up in Hyde Park at Speakers’ Corner early and met someone from the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom; they had asked me to read from Spycatcher in defiance of the ban.
I had prepared my speech with enormous care. I read it out and included long passages from Spycatcher. There was a bit of heckling from a man wearing a T-shirt with the words ‘Colonel North for President’ and ‘Help the Russians Join CND’, and shouting silly slogans.
Thursday 13 August
Stansgate. Lovely day with a little rain. Caroline is working on the Keir Hardie correspondence left to me in the will of Hedley Dennis. Hardie was obviously a difficult man, a loner who quarrelled with everybody. Various biographies have been written to suggest that he wasn’t a socialist but just an old Christian radical. Every generation of historians rewrites history to bring it into line with the current philosophy.
