TONY BENN WILL AND TESTAMENT at CELTIC CONNECTIONS

'I got a death threat last week. I haven’t had one in ages, so I was chuffed' (Tony Benn, 86). A unique preview of his forthcoming documentary film, followed by a Q and A with Tony. For the first time ever, through intimate quasi-confessional interviews and his personal, photographic and film archive, Will and Testament reveals Benn’s very human face behind the political mask. The documentary is an exclusive and deeply personal look at the life of a national treasure – a frank, candid and sometimes painful exploration of the great themes of life.

Doing a retrospective of an Actor or Artist is one thing , Artists are never as accountable in the full glare of history as must be a political track-record of delivery.

 A failing he has is that his record whilst in cabinet during many struggles and challenges for ordinary People can be construed as troubling in that he seems to have found his backbone at a later date and not during his tenure.Theres no getting away that in the business end of his career he was a bit too below the radar.As one commentator with an interest of the Labour Cabinet policy in Northern Ireland stated "There was a ceasefire in 1975 which stopped the targeting of British military personnel... the sectarian slaughter continued unabated, and Britiain's labour government (of which Tony Benn was a cabinet member) used the opportunity to gather massive amounts of intel in preparation for arrests later".Other observers of the struggle for equal rights and justice in Northern Ireland has identified this period as a time when the Republican Movement was nearly destroyed by activities of the security services and quasi-official assisted paramilitaries at the time of so-called ceasefire whilst the Equal Rights advocated waiting for the cabinet to deliver non-discriminatory laws and justice. 

But , to his credit , Tony Benn , after his peak of Political Influence in the form of collective Cabinet decision making policy was well behind him , has gone a long way to paying a political and active penance for enough time afterwards to atone himself several times over.



Leaving Parliament to devote more time to Politics was the Mantra Espoused when weighing-in with immense energy , robustness , commitment  and supreme resolve to social justice issues at home and abroad.

It has to be said there is a sickeningly mawkish,sentimental,gouey,gushing,slurpingly sticky,whimsical,New-Labour stage Managed , uncomfortable,artificial , false vibe, syrupy, treacly spoon-fed American style inauthentic gushing spin to the whole proceedings.Such things should be left for the like of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair , they could do with them.



All this is unnecessary , ultimately , Tony Benn does not need to pretend he is an ordinary man.For all his fans and supporters , knowing he is a privileged man who has concerns for the lives and struggles of ordinary People at Heart need be all his Will and Testament.

But dont get me wrong , i am a fan of Tony Benn , though i wish we could have got more the indefatigable man of action ,hope and encouragement and less , as he dismissively identifies , a flowing eulogy of a "National Treasure".

Just to balance things out here is an example of what Tony Benn is , can do , and hopefully always should be doing  until his last breathes.