Harold Wilson on Tony Benn

← Back to Harold Wilson Profile
“[Tony Benn is] an Old Testament prophet preaching the sort of New Jerusalem he wants to see.”
Harold Wilson
“He was a very good Postmaster General, all those coloured stamps, still going well. Tony's obsessed with shop stewards. That is why he liked planning agreements, because they would be run by shop stewards. We were having a shadow cabinet meeting and I asked for any other business. There was a deep sigh because we knew Tony would have something. And he said, I have just attended a meeting of the Bristol Aerospace workers, I think it was, and they just passed a resolution saying that they should have the right to sack the management at a week's notice. I said, why should they have a week? Why not give them just a weekend to clear out their lockers? I have always said about Tony that he immatures with age.”
Harold Wilson