183 Quotes by Tony Benn

Choice depends on the freedom to choose and if you are shackled with debt you don’t have the freedom to choose.

It is not surprising that more and more people are coming to the conclusion that the ballot box is no longer an instrument that will secure political solutions... They can see that the parliamentary democracy we boast of is becoming a sham.

I’d rather die on my feet making a speech than die of Alzheimer’s – and that’s what I’m planning to do.

The Civil Service is a bit like a rusty weathercock. It moves with opinion then it stays where it is until another wind moves it in a different direction.

I’ve got four lovely children, ten lovely grandchildren, and I left parliament to devote more time to politics, and I think that what is really going on in Britain is a growing sense of alienation. People don’t feel anyone listens to them.

In the end, the tragedy of Harold Wilson was that you couldn’t believe a word he said.

It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you.

Some of the jam we thought was for tomorrow, we’ve already eaten.

When I saw how the European Union was developing, it was very obvious what they had in mind was not democratic. In Britain, you vote for a government so the government has to listen to you, and if you don’t like it you can change it.