Festival Front
Red Wedgie
Years of abuse from the right wing media have not dulled the astute political mind of TONY BENN. These days, in fact, his politics seem more accessible
than ever. Words: Steve Cramer
n IOU}. when the Labour
Party drew tip its election
manifesto. one that Tony Benn was heavily involved in drafting. the political commentators and Tory politicians (then as now. there was little difference between the two) joined in the cry against the document as
legislation that would never be passed. At the time. figures such as Benn were labelled dinosaurs.
Now. given that many of the proposals of that manifesto. such as the batming of bloodsports. the
raising ol‘ the gay age of consent and several pieces of
anti-racist legislation. have since been ptit into law. you wonder how far behind dinosaurs in the evolutionary scale these right-wingers. who. let‘s face it. still rtm the country. were. Amoeba? Slime'.’ ()ne thing‘s for sure: they were happy to name their new friend Nelson Mandela a terrorist back then.
Benn is. in fact. still going strong and. freed front the yoke of new Labour. is exercising open and democratic politics in a way that no political party does these days. The lucidity of Benn‘s case for accessibility in politics is adtnirable. In an age when voters have been actively discouraged from voting by lack of choice. Benn is on the mark in his attitude to what has been labelled apathy. '\\'e have to address the cynicism
ol‘ politics.‘ he says.
‘Why is it that ‘In London,
people feel that 5
they have no ve created a medieval
inlluence'.’ I want to talk about the power to recover
patently unelectable. full of
your own destiny.‘ The problem. he feels. is to do with the media and the tnain political parties. ‘l’eoplc aren‘t satisfied by an
court, where the king is surrounded by favourites and hangers on’
exchange of abuse at
prime minister‘s question time. or a punch-up to amuse Jeremy Paxman on .\'t'tt'.miglil. or a bit of propaganda from patty headquarters. They‘re treated like a bunch of idiots. I think in this atmosphere a public meeting is a good thing. I get tip and talk for a half hour and the we get to questions and discussion.‘
Benn‘s recent tour of Britain to discuss world and British politics. and the latest instalment of his diaries. Free at Lust indicate that this simple formula is a winner. A recent visit to the (‘iti/ens‘ Theatre. (ilasgow. sold ottt within hours. If. inconceivably. the prime minister chose to address an open public meeting in this way. I wonder if ticket sales would be as high. He‘d certainly boost the local economy‘s sales of eggs and tomatoes.
But as Benn points out. such things no longer occur. ‘In London. they‘ve created a medieval court. where the king is surrounded by favourites and hangers on. and they all discuss who's going tip and who‘s going down. You get journalists interviewing journalists abottt what other journalists have said. It‘s like the ()scars or I’m]; Stars. And the public are completely left otit.‘
4 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 4- A . -
Benn is keenly aware of the public‘s mood and is more in touch with it than most: "Twenty years ago I was derided for things that are common sense now. We went along with Worldcom and linron. bttt now we‘re starting to realise that these marvellous guys at the top who want to buy up our schools and hospitals and control our pensions aren‘t quite what they seemed. Most people in Britain are to the left of the government. They don‘t want railways privately owned. they want decent pensions linked to income and they don‘t want student fees. The pendulum has swung against the 'l‘hatcher years. and yet we‘ve still got a semi-'l‘hatcherite government.‘
Benn is testament to the fact that if you ignore all the bullshit in the media. you can achieve your ends. He‘s faced it down. so why can‘t we‘.’
An Audience with Tony Benn, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 529 6000, 13-14 Aug, 8pm, £11.50-£1 5.50.
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‘I want to talk about the power to recover your own destiny'
Editor
Mark Fisher editor@|ist.co.uk
Art
Helen Monaghan an@list.co.uk Books
Brian Donaldson books@list.co.uk Clubs
Henry Northmore clubs@list.co.uk Comedy
Maureen Ellis comedy@list.co.uk Dance
Anna Millar (with Kelly Apter) anna@list.co.uk
Film
Miles Fielder film@list.co.uk Gay
John Binnie gay@|ist.co.uk Kids
Ruth Hedges ruth@list.co.uk Music
Mark Robertson music@iist.co.uk Theatre
Steve Cramer theatre(a)list.co.uk with Anna Millar anna(a}list.co.uk