183 Quotes by Tony Benn

I do not share the general view that market forces are the basis for political liberty. Every time I see a homeless person living in a cardboard box in London, I see that person as a victim of market forces. Everytime I see a pensioner who cannot manage, I know that he is a victim of market forces.

I have had the advantage of a radical Christian upbringing.

No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her hands. Nor does any American President have power approaching this.

Britain’s continuing membership of the Community would mean the end of Britain as a completely self-governing nation.

The Marxist analysis has got nothing to do with what happened in Stalin’s Russia: it’s like blaming Jesus Christ for the Inquisition in Spain.

A faith is something you die for; a doctrine is something you kill for; there is all the difference in the world.

I don’t make mistakes. I make predictions which immediately turn out to be wrong.

I think the truth is that the Labour Party isn’t believed any more because people suspect it will say anything to get votes. The rebuilding of some radical alternatives to Thatcherism – and by that I mean all-party Thatcherism – will require us to do some very difficult things.

I’ve been a member of the Labour Party sixty five years, and I remain in it, but I think it’s all about campaigning for justice and peace, and if you do that, you get a lot of support.