Tony Benn on politics of protests (26Jun11)

Labour veteran MP Tony Benn talks about the politics of protests.

Recorded from BBC Politics Show, 26 June 2011.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• tony
• benn
• labour
• mp
• politics
• of
• protests
• protesting
• protesters
• bbc
• 26
• june
• 2011

[incredibleXMan]

Interviewer is another typical Marie Antoinette.

[CrixMakin]

Love how she ends with "people should roll over and accept a shafting from the Tories rather than inconvenience the public".

[kbdkbd99]

@Sleck06 you are right - large companies do lobby government for favours and regulation, and try to influence government policy.

You've been influenced by too much left-wing media spin. Big business - with monopolies or oligopsonies ... that is NOT what capitalist and libertarians support - that is called corporatism.

What you called laissez-faire lead to the biggest increase inwealth for the poor. Marx predicted the poor would get poorer. Take a look around the world - the poor are richer.

[Sleck06]

@kbdkbd99 I do know from history that laissez faire free markets lead to massive wealth redistribution to the top the super rich combine medium and large companies to form corporations then corporations takeover small business and monopolize trade then corporations use wealth and influence to shape government policy rigging the system so all wealth flows to the top through tax cuts and deregulation and then you have corporatism.

[kbdkbd99]

@Sleck06 the private sector is efficient because if it is inefficient it makes a loss and goes out of business whilst those companies that are efficient make a profit.

I assume when you say "collapsed" you're talking about ...capitalism/markets... - unfortunately you are not smart enough to know the difference between libertarian free markets and corporatism.

We do not have free markets or capitalism - and have not had them for a long time. Whatever it is that has failed is statism.

[Sleck06]

@kbdkbd99 how is the private sector efficient its collapsed in the the past few years independent from government and banks are private sector too

[AnnoyedDragon]

What annoys me about the current government isn't the cuts, which are needed given the amount of debt we are in. But that they negate the effects of the cuts, by needlessly increasing spending elsewhere.

How is a £9 billion annual IMF contribution increase going to cut the deficit?

[MetaReaLizard]

@kbdkbd99 Efficiency and profit are often equally opposed by free-market economics. Short term profiteering has torn our manufacturing base to shreds. The bottom line is that free-market thinking is not a fit for all solution. "Value" is a very complex parameter that can't always be measured directly in quantitative terms. The same scumbags that buy off unions officials also buy off and plant the politiicians. If you are an anarcho-capitalist then I apologise for misrepresenting you.

[kbdkbd99]

@MetaReaLizard I would gladly put every banker in prison, and I am no friend of the corporatist (almost facist) state we are in.

You think you can oppose my point with this strawman argument ?

The bottom line is that public sector salaries have been negotiated in smoke-filled rooms by labour politicians and union officials who are ideologically in favour of giving public sector workers far more than their real value.

Public sector workers are inefficient and not worth the money they recieve.

[tojoconfused]

Radio5's Peter Allen summed it up when he said "Bring back Jane Garvey, 'cos this witless cunt is driving me nuts".