by Benn, Tony
Sunday 31 December
A tumultuous decade and a dramatic year have ended.
World politics in 1989 were earth-shattering. In Poland, Lech Walesa came to power and emerged as a real right-wing, Thatcherite, Catholic nationalist for whom I have very little sympathy. He came to Britain saying he was going to offer cheap Polish labour to British investors, and told the CBI he wanted profit to play a larger part. Then there were demonstrations in Prague, which were put down by force and led to the total overthrow of the Czech regime and a new government. Hungary developed in a similar way. Then the Berlin Wall came down after tremendous outpourings of public feeling, the East and West German governments came together, and there was talk of German reunification. All this was accepted by Gorbachev, who is still desperately trying to make a go of his reforms in Russia, but there are problems in Armenia and the Baltic States, and the economic situation is terribly difficult. The Tories aruged that this had all come about due to the fact that we had nuclear weapons, but people didn’t really believe it any more.
Sunday 21 January 1990
I have been thinking a lot lately about the role of conscience. I realise that I have got built into me, through my upbringing or whatever, a tremendously strong inner voice saying what I should do at any one moment. It says: You should get up and get the breakfast. You should ring the children. You should not smoke. You should get on with your work. You should go to bed earlier. If I disregard it – as I regularly do over a whole range of issues – then it builds up an unhappiness in me which comes out in other forms. People say I’m a workaholic, but if an inner voice is telling you all the time to do something or another, you can’t avoid it. It is the ‘still small voice’, though sometimes it becomes quite loud.
Sunday 11 February
Had a phone call telling me that Mandela would be released today and asking me to go to Trafalgar Square at 12.30. There were hundreds of people gathered there and the organisers were, of course, the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group, who had been picketing outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square non-stop for 1,395 days. There was a tremendous sense of excitement. People were singing and waving their arms and kissing and hugging. Somebody had draped on Nelson’s column a banner with the words ‘Nelson Mandela’s Column’, and I was pushed on to a platform.
I’m afraid my speech wasn’t very clear. I simply said, ‘This is a great day. Free Mandela. Free South Africa. Free Britain. Free working people from exploitation.’ There was a cheer, but I don’t think people could hear much, and I could hardly hear myself.
It was a marvellous event; people were dancing and shouting, and an ANC choir were singing. It was fantastic. I don’t think there has been anything like it since 1945 when the war ended.
A really great day. On television live from Cape Town was Mandela, this tall, slim, distinguished man with a strong voice, walking out of prison and reaffirming the need for the armed struggle.
Tuesday 27 March
To County Hall for the last meeting of ILEA. It was really rather moving to think that there had been a London education authority for over 100 years, that my grandfather had been a founder member in 1889 and that my son, Stephen, was a member as it ended. Nita and little Emily were present, and Emily sat on my lap in the Council chamber and listened to her dad speaking.
Saturday 31 March
To the anti-poll tax demonstration, which started from Kennington Park and marched to Trafalgar Square.
We came up Whitehall and on into Trafalgar Square, which was absolutely crammed. There must have been 150,000 people. I was pleased to see George Galloway there. Jeremy Corbyn was there, but before he was due to speak the rally was stopped because of the trouble which occurred.
I got off the platform and began walking back down Whitehall, but found the police had thrown a barrier across the road, so that people couldn’t get up or down, though they let me through. In the crowd I found myself being pressed from behind by riot police and mounted police. People were terribly frightened. I forced my way through until I came to the line of police, who didn’t look like police at all. I wondered if they were soldiers in police uniform. I asked where the senior officer was and finally was introduced to a man with a crown on his shoulder.
I had a tape recorder running part of the time, and I asked, ‘Why don’t you let them go by?’
He said, ‘They won’t move.’
Well, that wasn’t true. He claimed there had been a lot of violence. I think that what they had done was to break the march up, squeeze the people in the middle and frighten them, and then no doubt some bottles and things were thrown. It reminded me a bit of Wapping.
I said to the commander, ‘Don’t forget what the Northamptonshire police said about the behaviour of the police at Wapping.’
He got a bit angry and said, ‘A few mistakes were made then.’
Sunday 1 April
The papers were full of the riots and looting in Trafalgar Square. A man rang me and left a message on my answerphone: ‘You fucking cunt. Now you’ve lost the next Election for us.’ That was the only unfriendly one.
Wednesday 11 April
Most of the letters are pretty supportive. Three Anglican bishops, a Catholic bishop and five free churchmen came out today in favour of non-violent protest against the poll tax.
Tuesday 8 May
Jeremy Corbyn and I had a bite to eat, and then went down to the Commons Crypt with a Black & Decker drill and my brass plaque commemorating Emily Wilding Davison. We screwed it on the door, in place of the temporary notice I had put up with Miss Frampton’s help.
Monday 23 July
I saw Heseltine in the post office of the Commons today, and said to him, ‘I noticed when you were interviewed not long ago on television that one of my books was on the shelf behind you. I presume it was there to impress people!’
‘I’ll remove it at once,’ he replied.
Wednesday 1 August
On holiday at Stansgate. Absolutely perfect weather, temperature in the nineties – higher than in Athens or North Africa. In the evenings the sunsets are beautiful, and we saw two swans with their cygnets on the river, just heavenly. Caroline is so happy working on her biography of Keir Hardie.
Friday 3 August
Serious news today of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Alliances are being built up; the Americans and Russians issued a statement, Thatcher is going to America, Bush warned that Saudi Arabia mustn’t be attacked because Baghdad can’t be allowed to control two-thirds of the world’s oil supplies. We could be hovering on the edge of a Third World War, and the only comforting thing you can say about it is that the Cold War is over and the superpowers are not fighting this war by proxy. King Hussain of Jordan, who is a great friend of Britain but is also a friend of the Baghdad Government, has been to Iraq.
When the Iraqi Army invaded Kuwait, the Iraq Government claimed a list of grievances against Kuwait – some of which originated in the historical settlement of the borders in the region by the victorious powers after the First World War.
In 1922, the British High Commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, had delineated the borders of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, giving Kuwait a coastline of 310 miles, and Iraq one of only 36 miles, at the top of the Gulf. The kingdom of Iraq had comprised the former provinces of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra (which had included Kuwait).
In 1990, therefore, Iraq tried to argue that it had old territorial claims to Kuwait. But the two countries had more recent differences, including the ownership of the Rumaila oilfield, lying under the Iraq–Kuwait border; Kuwait’s refusal to lease two islands in the Gulf to Iraq to give her a deep-water port; and serious debt.
Sunday 5 August
Read the papers, and it was just like Suez, with the dire warnings of war, so I decided to send a message from Stansgate (where I had taken my little fax machine) to Neil Kinnock, asking him to consider the recall of Parliament. Certainly if British troops are to be deployed it should be done. I rang the Guardian, the Press Association a
nd the Independent news desks about it.
Tuesday 7 August
I decided that I would formally request the recall of Parliament, so I typed a letter to the PM, with copies to the Speaker and Neil Kinnock, warning that we could be involved in decisions in which we had played no part. I also stated that a pre-emptive strike by the United States could have the opposite effect to that intended and destroy the unity that had been built up and which I welcomed in the resolution of the Security Council. I pointed out that in former years Parliament was recalled during the recess – in the case of the Suez crisis and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; MPs had the right to hear the Government’s views and ask questions and express their own opinions.
The hostility to Saddam Hussein is so great, as he is being built up as a new Hitler, that any cautious voice even calling for discussion is going to be disregarded and silenced.
Kinnock is on holiday in Italy. Kaufman appears on the television every now and again demanding more urgent action. Israel says that if Iraqi troops enter Jordan it will be an act of war, even though Jordan might agree to have them there. It could be catastrophic.
Wednesday 8 August
Today Bush did a broadcast with tremendous hyping up – American wives weeping as sailors left in aircraft carriers and all that. The British are sending forces to help King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, apparently because he requested them. In the end, it’s an Anglo-American force that is in the Gulf. Saddam Hussein soon afterwards announced that Kuwait was to be permanently annexed to Iraq.
In the afternoon I was quite desperate, and rang the BBC. I asked them, ‘Why won’t you broadcast the fact that a request has been made to recall Parliament?’ But they won’t do it.
Monday 13 August
The Prime Minister turned down my request for the recall of Parliament.
Wednesday 15 August
Began serious work on my Government of Britain Bill. It’s extremely difficult writing a completely new constitution from scratch on your own. On the other hand, having a blank piece of paper and knowing how power works and is abused is helpful as a starting point.
The problem will be devising a constitution for Scotland and Wales. I think I shall make provision for national parliaments for Scotland and Wales, and they must decide on their own constitutions. So I am left with the English Assembly and how it should work. There is a difficulty about proportional representation and a second chamber. I’ve been talking about this for two years, and now everyone else is moving on it, and I shall be left behind if I don’t make some progress soon.
Thursday 30 August
I rang Andreas Whittam Smith, Editor of the Independent, and said, ‘Don’t you think it would be a good idea if your readers had a chance of hearing what the peace case is?’ He was terribly polite and asked me to write something, which I did immediately and faxed to him. They are going to print it tomorrow.
Later today I heard Parliament had been recalled for Thursday and Friday next week, and so there will be a Commons debate.
There is going to be a demonstration in Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square.
Thursday 6 September
To the Commons for what turned out to be a difficult meeting of the Campaign Group. I circulated a motion which had the broad agreement of the Stop the War campaign – that we condemn the aggression, support the sanctions, say there is a prospect of a peaceful settlement and then demand that the Government give an assurance that they won’t authorise offensive British military action without a special resolution by the UN. We should decline to support the Government in the absence of such a declaration.
Perhaps not to my surprise, there was a lot of argument about my resolution.
Dave Nellist said he didn’t believe in the UN at all. He insisted that there had to be an overthrow of the Iraqi regime from within – I don’t disagree with that.
Dennis Skinner said we should raise the question of the oil companies and their exploitation, otherwise it looked a bit academic.
Diane Abbott was doubtful about signing it, because she thought the UN could be the instrument of oppression of the Third World by the rich white countries.
Jeremy Corbyn was doubtful because of the UN, and thought we should say simply, ‘Get out of the Gulf.’ I should have cleared it with Jeremy first, because we are both officers of the Campaign Group.
To cut a long story short, most of them signed it, but Terry Fields and Dave Nellist wouldn’t.
The debate in the House was opened by Thatcher. I put a question to her about the use of force. Kinnock made a more militant speech than Thatcher, and he called for the destruction of the Iraqi war machine, which is nothing whatever to do with Kuwait.
Ted Heath and Denis Healey spoke urging caution. The debate went back and forth, and I was called by the Speaker shortly after 5.40 and spoke for twenty-two minutes. The Chamber filled up with Members, because it was known by then that I was going to divide the House. Looking back on it, I wan’t terribly pleased with the speech – I don’t know why. I felt very flat afterwards. Sir John Stokes, who is a right-wing old Tory, said he thought I had been flippant. I don’t think I quite got it right, although the argument was correct.
Friday 7 September
Second day of the debate, opened by Tom King, and we had a speech from Martin O’Neill, our defence spokesman, which was very militant.
Then we had a series of speeches of which infinitely the most moving was from Eric Heffer, who is very thin and white. Everybody knows he is dying, and he spoke against war with great passion. David Winnick got up to interrupt him, but Eric said, ‘I am not giving way. This may be my last speech in the House.’ When he sat down he was exhausted, his head fell forward on to his hands and he crossed himself. It was deeply, deeply moving.
Douglas Hurd spoke last, and added something about the possibility of a post-Cold War ‘new world order’, which is what everybody has been talking about. ‘Opposition Members talk . . . in terms of great aspirations and the brotherhood of man. I see it in more traditional Tory terms as an increasingly effective concert of nations.’
This summed it up: a return to a pre-1914 situation in which the great powers – Washington, Moscow, and no doubt Tokyo and Berlin – will get together and run the world. With the disappearance of socialism from the international agenda, we are getting back to great-power politics, to nationalism, to racism, to imperialism, and to all sorts of other unattractive xenophobic characteristics.
The division was 437 to 35. But, taking the Labour backbenchers, 49 per cent voted for the Government, 25 per cent against and 26 per cent abstained. In others words, 51 per cent of Labour backbenchers didn’t vote with the Government.
Monday 17 September
To Friends’ Meeting House, Euston Road, for the Committee to Stop the War. The Left is marvellous! When I arrived I walked into a flaming row, because Mark Osborn of Socialist Organiser had issued a leaflet to which CND and the Marxism Today lot took exception. He asked on behalf of his committee to affiliate to Stop the War, but that was turned down, and he was requested to leave the meeting.
I said, ‘I don’t think we have any authority to do that. It’s Stalinist.’ So that upset the CND people.
The row went on and on, and Ann Pettifor said Mark Osborn should be told to leave. I nearly walked out myself!
Monday 24 September
I had asked to see Ted Heath, and at 5.45 I arrived at his house. I expected a police guard, but the door was open and his chauffeur was carrying in a box of apples, which he told me Mr Heath had picked from his garden in Salisbury. Out came a Spanish lady in her sixties, who said, ‘Mr Benn, what a pleasure to see you in the flesh. Do come in. Mr Heath will be here in a few minutes.’
She took me up to his sitting room on the first floor of quite a small house, beautifully furnished, with pictures of yachting scenes, and his piano, and two couches facing each other. As I walked up the stairs I could see him working in his office in his pullover.
He came
in and shook hands, and I thanked him for sparing the time. He offered me a drink, and I said I was a teetotaller – which he didn’t know. I had a ginger ale.
I said I thought his broadcast a week before had been very wise and reflected a widely held opinion in Britain. I wondered whether he might consider joining with other senior political figures, many of whom, like himself, had been ‘through the chair’, to issue an appeal for peace along the lines of his broadcast. He sat there, impassive, looking at me.
His Private Secretary had told me that after his broadcast he had received eighty-five letters, most of them sympathetic.
I told him, ‘I have had over a thousand now, from all over the world, and only thirty-one of them were critical.’
We discussed the UN’s position, and I said, ‘People don’t want another Korean War.’
‘I agree with that.’
It wasn’t a cold meeting exactly, but it was formal, and I suppose he must be suspicious of me because I fought him very hard when he was Prime Minister, opposed him on the Common Market, and criticised him sharply on a number of occasions.
Just before I left, I said, ‘My wife sends her kind regards. We have never forgotten the time we came to dinner at Number 10 when you were Prime Minister and you were dining a West African president, I forget who it was. After the dinner we had some lovely music played by African musicians, sitting on the floor and playing their instruments.’ All of a sudden he was transformed. His body began shaking with the old Ted Heath laugh, and he said, ‘We always had music at Number 10 dinners.’
I got up and left. It was a memorable little event. Perhaps he will do something about it, but, if he doesn’t, there you are.
Sunday 30 September – Labour Party Conference, Blackpool
Two well-dressed men came up to me at the Conference and said, ‘Excuse me, sir, we are from the police. We have to advise you that somebody with a northern accent rang the Daily Mirror this morning saying that a contract had been put out to kill you and Ken Livingstone. Do you know where Mr Livingstone is?’
I said, ‘I’ll see him later, and I’ll tell him. Thanks.’
