Editing Tony Benn (section)

==Illness and death==
In 1990, Benn was diagnosed with [[Chronic lymphocytic leukemia|chronic lymphatic leukaemia]] and given three or four years to live; at this time, he kept the news of his leukaemia from everyone except his immediate family. Benn said: "When you're in parliament, you can't describe your medical condition. People immediately start wondering what your majority is and when there will be a by-election. They're very brutal."<ref name="Scotsman2002">{{cite news|title=Tony Benn: My fight with leukaemia|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/tony-benn-my-fight-with-leukaemia-1-1377345|access-date=10 April 2016|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=29 September 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422015510/http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/tony-benn-my-fight-with-leukaemia-1-1377345|archive-date=22 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> This was revealed in 2002 with the release of his 1990–2001 diaries.<ref name="Scotsman2002" />

Benn had a stroke in 2012, and spent much of the following year in hospital.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tony Benn, veteran Labour politician, dies aged 88|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/14/tony-benn-dies-aged-88-labour-politiican|newspaper=The Guardian|author-link=Patrick Wintour|first=Patrick|last= Wintour|author2=Rowena Mason|date=14 March 2014|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201205609/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/14/tony-benn-dies-aged-88-labour-politiican|archive-date=1 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> He was reported to be "seriously ill" in hospital in February 2014.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26150987 "Tony Benn seriously ill in hospital"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927114837/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26150987 |date=27 September 2018 }}, BBC News, 12 February 2014.</ref> Benn died at home on 14 March 2014, surrounded by his family, at the age of 88.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26573929|title=BBC News – Labour stalwart Tony Benn dies at 88|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314075003/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26573929|archive-date=14 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn's funeral took place on 27 March 2014 at [[St Margaret's Church, Westminster]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26766936 |title=Tony Benn's funeral takes place in Westminster |publisher=BBC |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330213826/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26766936 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=guardian-20140327>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/27/tony-benn-funeral-bedfellows-foes-unite |title=Bedfellows and foes unite at Tony Benn's funeral |author-link=Owen Jones (writer) |first=Owen |last=Jones|newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130101/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/27/tony-benn-funeral-bedfellows-foes-unite |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> His body had lain in rest at [[St Mary Undercroft]] in the [[Palace of Westminster]] the night before the funeral service.<ref name=bbc-20140320>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26664023 |title=Queen approves Tony Benn overnight vigil in Parliament's chapel |publisher=BBC |date=20 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323110535/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26664023 |archive-date=23 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The service ended with the singing of "[[The Red Flag]]".<ref name=telegraph-20140327>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10726659/Tony-Benns-funeral-ends-with-rendition-of-The-Red-Flag.html |title=Tony Benn's funeral ends with rendition of The Red Flag |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328134723/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10726659/Tony-Benns-funeral-ends-with-rendition-of-The-Red-Flag.html |archive-date=28 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> His body was then cremated; the ashes were expected to be buried alongside those of his wife at the family home near [[Steeple, Essex]].<ref name=ec-20140327>{{cite news |url=http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Crowds-gather-funeral-Tony-Benn/story-20860483-detail/story.html |title=Tony Benn funeral: Crowds gather for Westminster send-off |first=William |last=Watkinson |work=Essex Chronicle |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413143554/http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Crowds-gather-funeral-Tony-Benn/story-20860483-detail/story.html |archive-date=13 April 2014 }}</ref>

Figures from across the [[political spectrum]] praised Benn following his death,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dominiczak|first1=Peter|last2=Swinford|first2=Steve|title='I hope I didn't cause offence': Tony Benn's message from beyond the grave|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10699114/I-hope-I-didnt-cause-offence-Tony-Benns-message-from-beyond-the-grave.html|access-date=9 February 2016|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306045406/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10699114/I-hope-I-didnt-cause-offence-Tony-Benns-message-from-beyond-the-grave.html|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Burrows|first1=Saffron|date=21 December 2014|title=He loved so well: a moving tribute to Tony Benn by the actor Saffron Burrows|newspaper=The Guardian|publisher=[[Stop the War Coalition]]|url=http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/news-comment/1085-he-loved-so-well-moving-tribute-to-tony-benn-by-actor-saffron-burrows|url-status=live|access-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424125841/http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/news-comment/1085-he-loved-so-well-moving-tribute-to-tony-benn-by-actor-saffron-burrows|archive-date=24 April 2016}}</ref> and the leaders of all three major political parties (the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]) in the United Kingdom paid tribute.

Conservative leader and Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] said:{{blockquote|... he was an extraordinary man: a great writer, a brilliant speaker, extraordinary in Parliament, and a great life of public and political and parliamentary service. I mean, I disagreed with most of what he said. But he was always engaging and interesting, and you were never bored when reading or listening to him, and the country a great campaigner, a great writer, and someone who I'm sure whose words will be followed keenly for many, many years to come.<ref name="BennDeathGuardian">{{cite news|title=David Cameron and Ed Miliband pay tribute to Tony Benn – video|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/mar/14/david-cameron-ed-miliband-tribute-tony-benn-video|access-date=6 February 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|publisher=ITN|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207002150/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/mar/14/david-cameron-ed-miliband-tribute-tony-benn-video|archive-date=7 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=BennDeathBBC>{{cite news|title=Tributes to former MP Tony Benn from key politicians|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26573818|access-date=6 February 2016|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711212359/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26573818|archive-date=11 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Deputy Prime Minister, [[Nick Clegg]] called Benn an "astonishing, iconic figure" and a "veteran parliamentarian, he was a great writer, he had great warmth and he had great conviction ... his political life will be looked back on with affection and admiration".<ref name=BennDeathBBC />

[[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] and [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Labour leader]] [[Ed Miliband]], who knew Benn personally as a family friend, said:{{blockquote|I think Tony Benn will be remembered as a champion of the powerless, as a conviction politician, as somebody of deep principle and integrity. The thing about Tony Benn is that you always knew what he stood for, and who he stood up for. And I think that's why he was admired right across the political spectrum. There are people who agreed with him and disagreed with him, including in my own party, but I think people admired that sense of conviction and integrity that shone through from Tony Benn.<ref name="BennDeathGuardian" /><ref name=BennDeathBBC />}}