Aneurin Bevan - the greatest British politician?

[editor]

The son of a Welsh miner, Trade unionist, campaigner for increased benefits, fighter of fascism, political activist, MP, the man responsible for the NHS and a man of principle who resigned from the government in protest against the introduction of charges for dental care.

Let's hear it for Nye Bevan!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bevan_aneurin.shtml
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUbevan.htm

 

[Red Faction]

not Keir Hardie then no?

 

[editor]

not Keir Hardie then no?

Err, the idea is that you argue the case, not just post up a meaningless one liner.

(although there's no disputing that Keir Hardie was a good 'un)

 

[Red Faction]

sorry
his acheivements seem self evident
a lad who worked down the pits from when he was 11
was illerate til he was about 18
led the first ever strike by lanarkshire miners
father of the labour party
without which aneurin bevan never would have got his claim to fame...

 

[phildwyer]

Its going back a bit, but I've always had a soft spot for Charles James Fox, eighteenth century leader of the radical whigs, hero of the London mob, and bon viveur extraordinaire. Gave his name to the Intrepid Fox pub in Soho. The good politicians often have pubs named after them.

 

[editor]

without which aneurin bevan never would have got his claim to fame...

How do you work that out then?
Bevan was Chairman of his Miners' Lodge at age 19, and was largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar during the 1926 General Strike and the formation of the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provided food for the miners.

How was Hardie instrumental in those parts of his life?

 

[fela fan]

Nah, all politicians have been shit except one man. And then he achieved what he did as a writer/commentator.

Benn.

All the rest were rubbish.

 

[editor]

Nah, all politicians have been shit except one man. And then he achieved what he did as a writer/commentator.

Benn.

All the rest were rubbish.

You really do know fuck all about politics, don't you?

Read this and this for starters and stop spouting such ignorant shit.

 

[phildwyer]

Nah, all politicians have been shit except one man. And then he achieved what he did as a writer/commentator.

Benn.

All the rest were rubbish.

Well Benn himself would certainly disagree with you there. His hero is John Lilburne, the Leveller leader during the English Revolution.

 

[Red Faction]

Nah, all politicians have been shit except one man.

All the rest were rubbish.

bit of a sweeping statement
everyone who isnt tony benn = shit

prove it!
if is was THAT great why wasnt he labour party leader or PM?


anyway
that margaret thatcher did a darn good job didnt she?


sprints for his life while donning flame proof jacket

 

[fela fan]

Mind you, the links you posted make him look alright. So i s'pose there might have been more than one decent poli. But not that many more...

 

[fela fan]

Well Benn himself would certainly disagree with you there. His hero is John Lilburne, the Leveller leader during the English Revolution.

phil, have to admit, anything to have a dig at the editor of this site...

maybe coloured my thinking in this case.

But only a bit. I've only ever had total respect for benn. That bevan man is a bit old for me and my time.

 

[fela fan]

You really do know fuck all about politics, don't you?

Read this and this for starters and stop spouting such ignorant shit.

heh heh, love it.

 

[fela fan]

bit of a sweeping statement
everyone who isnt tony benn = shit

prove it!
if is was THAT great why wasnt he labour party leader or PM?

Oh, C'MON man!! You're telling me that the judge of a good politician is if they become the leader or pm??? That, i'm afraid man, makes them candidates for insanity if it's about UK or USA.

Benn was good, for one reason, precisely coz he could/would never have been pm. He was far far too honest to hold that position...

 

[articul8]

Let's hear it for Nye Bevan!

err...this would be Nye "Don't send me naked into the conference chamber", actually nukes aren't so bad now I've got a cushy job, Bevan.

He wasn't the worst, but greatest British politician? I nominate Sylvia Pankhurst.

 

[Belushi]

err...this would be Nye "Don't send me naked into the conference chamber", actually nukes aren't so bad now I've got a cushy job, Bevan.

Wasn't that Ernest Bevin?

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Wasn't that Ernest Bevin?

No.

 

[fela fan]

Look, let's get one thing straight, there's really no such thing as a 'great' politician in the UK. They're all lying scumbags. Maybe they have great motives, but once in the position, the context of the job demands they lie.

Benn is the only one i can think of that stuck to his guns.

 

[Belushi]

No.

Right you are, from wikipedia

Bevan dismayed many of his supporters when, speaking at the 1957 Labour Party conference, he decried unilateral nuclear disarmament, saying "It would send a British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference-chamber". (This statement is often misconstrued. Bevan argued that unilateralism would result in Britain's loss of allies. In Bevan's metaphor, the nakedness comes from the lack of allies, not the lack of weapons).

 

[articul8]

Benn is of a better calibre than most previous Labour MP's. But he did

a - refuse to resign when the Labour govt. introduced an IMF cuts package, wage restraint etc
b - introduce nuclear power (the by-products of which were purchased by the Pentagon), oh and it eventually was used by Thatcher to put the mining industry out of business

neither of which were too clever.

Sylvia Pankhurst is much under-rated - not only advocating militant direct action to win women the vote, but also in favour of buidling links with the working class struggles.

 

[phildwyer]

Benn's actually changed his opinion quite a lot, as do most politicians. Don't forget he was Wilson's Postmaster-general. The difference being that, while most ot them get more right-wing, Benn moved to the left. There are those who'd say that was in itself an opportunist manouver, but I'm not among them. I agree that Benn is a man of principle, but Bevan clearly achieved more, and came from less. I'd also put in a vote for David Lloyd George, a lovable rogue if you can excuse his Irish policies (I can). In addition to their other admirable qualities, Lloyd George and Bevan are the subjects of the two most frequently decorated statues in Cardiff, always excepting John Batchelor, the Friend of Freedom.

 

[fela fan]

The problem with all politicians is that, whatever their prime motives to become one (and some, no doubt, have good motives), the very position that they hold in office in UK or USA means that they will/must become liars and hypocrites.

It's as inevitable as night following day.

With benn however, he only succumbed a wee bit. That's what made him head and shoulders above all others. They all went gaga over their power.

I realise i'm talking only about, say, polis of the last three decades, but i still believe my words to be true in some kind of timeless sense...

 

[articul8]

Benn's actually changed his opinion quite a lot, as do most politicians. Don't forget he was Wilson's Postmaster-general. The difference being that, while most ot them get more right-wing, Benn moved to the left.

well kind of - but then at the last election he was still phone canvassing for New Labour. In fact, by staying put in Labour, he has played an extremely negative role.

I'd also put in a vote for David Lloyd George, a lovable rogue if you can excuse his Irish policies (I can).

Not only was he proponent of continued British imperialism in Ireland, he also sent support (military and financial) to white Russian counter-revolutionaries. Whatever Bevan's flaws, he was head and shoulders above this clown

 

[Belushi]

b - introduce nuclear power (the by-products of which were purchased by the Pentagon), oh and it eventually was used by Thatcher to put the mining industry out of business

And was a Minister in a Labour Government which closed more Pits than Thatcher.

 

[phildwyer]

Not only was he proponent of continued British imperialism in Ireland, he also sent support (military and financial) to white Russian counter-revolutionaries. Whatever Bevan's flaws, he was head and shoulders above this clown

Yeah, yeah, and Bevan called Nasser a "thief in the night" when he had the audacity to nationalize the Suez canal. Fela's right about this--it is impossible to be a government minister in an imperialist power without getting blood on your hands. Lilburne it is then! Or Dennis Skinner.

 

[editor]

phil, have to admit, anything to have a dig at the editor of this site...

If you're only here to troll and disrupt threads by pointlessly having a go at me you can fuck right off.

Remember: the admin team run this site in their own time and for no profit, so unprovoked or sustained personal attacks may result in a ban - show some respect for their hard work!

 

[editor]

err...this would be Nye "Don't send me naked into the conference chamber", actually nukes aren't so bad now I've got a cushy job, Bevan.

Oh dear. You're not really up to speed on this are you?

Bevan: I am deeply convinced that you are wrong. It is therefore not a question of who is in favour of the hydrogen bomb, but a question of what is the most effective way of getting the damn thing destroyed. It is the most difficult of all problems facing mankind. But if you carry this resolution and follow out all its implications and do not run away from it you will send a Foreign Secretary, whoever he may be, naked into the conference chamber.

This statement is often misconstrued. Bevan argued that unilateralism would result in Britain's loss of allies. In Bevan's metaphor, the nakedness comes from the lack of allies, not the lack of weapons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nye_Bevan

 

[Gumbert]

Aneurin Bevan - the greatest British politician?

you want to talk to big bad pig...

he's told me he's bevans great great nephew

apparently...

 

[nino_savatte]

Benn is of a better calibre than most previous Labour MP's. But he did

a - refuse to resign when the Labour govt. introduced an IMF cuts package, wage restraint etc
b - introduce nuclear power (the by-products of which were purchased by the Pentagon), oh and it eventually was used by Thatcher to put the mining industry out of business

neither of which were too clever.

Sylvia Pankhurst is much under-rated - not only advocating militant direct action to win women the vote, but also in favour of buidling links with the working class struggles.

He was also responsible for the Marine Broadcasting Offences (& co) Act of 1967 that killed the original pirate stations. Though I am told he later regretted it.

 

[phildwyer]

It was still a sell-out though. Bevan had been a strongly committed unilateralist, and mysteriously changed his mind once in office. He wasn't Kinnock's boyhood hero for nothing. Not that I disagree that Bevan was the greatest British politician of the twentieth century--at least out of those who've actually held power. Its easier to keep a clear conscience if you don't, of course.