Editing Tony Benn (section)

==In government, 1964–1970==
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In the [[Labour government, 1964–1970|1964 Government]] led by [[Harold Wilson]], Benn was [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster General]], where he oversaw the opening of the [[Post Office Tower]], then [[List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom|the UK's tallest building]], and the creations of the Post Bus service and [[Girobank]]. He proposed issuing stamps without the [[monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarch]]'s head, but this met with private opposition from [[Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Tony Benn dies: his most memorable quotes|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697145/Tony-Benn-dies-his-most-memorable-quotes.html|work=The Telegraph|access-date=14 March 2014|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314081114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697145/Tony-Benn-dies-his-most-memorable-quotes.html|archive-date=14 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Instead, the portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on commemorative stamps.<ref>{{cite news|title=Five lesser-spotted things Tony Benn gave the UK|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26575843|access-date=5 May 2016|work=BBC News|publisher=Magazine Monitor: A collection of cultural artefacts|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925135426/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26575843|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn also led the government's opposition to the [[Pirate radio in the United Kingdom#1960s|"pirate" radio stations]] broadcasting from international waters, which he was aware would be an unpopular measure.<ref>[[Briggs, Asa]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=0pRGjVGtUvwC&pg=PA515 ''The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904100627/https://books.google.com/books?id=0pRGjVGtUvwC&pg=PA515 |date=4 September 2015 }}, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 515–19, 540.</ref> He claimed that some of these stations were causing interference to emergency radio used by shipping,<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jun/22/wireless-and-television-pirate-stations "Wireless and Television (Pirate Stations)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004233459/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1966/jun/22/wireless-and-television-pirate-stations |date=4 October 2013 }}, ''Hansard'', HC Deb, vol. 730 cc858-70, 22 June 1966.</ref> although he was not responsible for introducing the [[Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967|Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill]] when it came before Parliament at the end of July 1966 for its first reading.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jul/27/marine-c-broadcasting-offences "Marine, & C., Broadcasting (Offences)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191839/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1966/jul/27/marine-c-broadcasting-offences |date=29 October 2013 }}, HC Deb 27 July 1966, ''Hansard'', vol. 732 c1720.</ref>

Earlier in the month, Benn was promoted to [[Minister of Technology]], which included responsibility for the development of [[Concorde]] and the formation of [[International Computers Limited|International Computers Ltd. (ICL).]] The period also saw government involvement in industrial rationalisation, and the merger of several car companies to form [[British Leyland]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/uk_confidential/1706972.stm|title=UK Confidential Transcripts: Tony Benn – The Labour Minister|work=BBC News|date=1 January 2002|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021218141340/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/uk_confidential/1706972.stm|archive-date=18 December 2002|url-status=live}}</ref> Following Conservative MP [[Enoch Powell]]'s [[Rivers of Blood speech|1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech]] to a Conservative Association meeting, in opposition to [[Harold Wilson]]'s insistence on not "stirring up the Powell issue",<ref name="ButlerPinto-Duschinsky1971">{{cite book|first=David |last=Butler|author2=Michael Pinto-Duschinsky|title=British General Election of 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JKuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|date=2 July 1971|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-349-01095-0|pages=159–160}}</ref> Benn said during the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]] campaign:

{{blockquote|The flag of [[racialism]] which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over [[Dachau]] and [[Belsen]]. If we do not speak up now against the filthy and obscene racialist propaganda ... the forces of hatred will mark up their first success and mobilise their first offensive...Enoch Powell has emerged as the real leader of the Conservative Party. He is a far stronger character than Mr. Heath. He speaks his mind; Heath does not. The final proof of Powell's power is that Heath dare not attack him publicly, even when he says things that disgust decent Conservatives.<ref name="ButlerPinto-Duschinsky1971" />}}

The [[mainstream press]] attacked Benn for using language deemed as intemperate as Powell's language in his "Rivers of Blood" speech (which was widely regarded as racist),<ref name="ButlerPinto-Duschinsky1971" /> and Benn noted in his diary that "letters began pouring in on the Powell speech: 2:1 against me but some very sympathetic ones saying that my speech was overdue".<ref name="Benn2013 p.230">{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Benn|title=The Benn Diaries: 1940–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdCp8S5XK9wC&pg=PA230|date=31 January 2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-9373-1|page=230}}</ref> [[Harold Wilson]] later reprimanded Benn for this speech, accusing him of losing Labour seats in the 1970 general election.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rabzGlRdsmk "Racist Laws 1971"] ''Black History Walks'' (YouTube).</ref>

During the 1970s Benn publicly defended Marxism, saying:
{{blockquote|''[[The Communist Manifesto]]'', and many other works of Marxist philosophy, have always profoundly influenced the British labour movement and the British Labour Party, and have strengthened our understanding and enriched our thinking.
It would be as unthinkable to try to construct the Labour Party without Marx as it would be to establish university faculties of astronomy, anthropology or psychology without permitting the study of Copernicus, Darwin or Freud, and still expect such faculties to be taken seriously.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marxism in the Labour Party|url=https://www.marxist.com/marxism-in-the-labour-party.htm|year=2017|access-date=20 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142343/https://www.marxist.com/marxism-in-the-labour-party.htm|archive-date=20 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Best of Benn|first=Tony |last=Benn|editor= Ruth Winstone|year=2015|page=127|publisher=Random House UK |isbn=978-1784750329}}</ref>}}

Labour lost the 1970 election to [[Edward Heath]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] and upon Heath's application to join the [[European Economic Community]], a surge in left-wing [[Euroscepticism]] emerged.<ref name="WattsPilkington2005">{{cite book|first=Duncan |last=Watts|author2=Colin Pilkington|title=Britain in the European Union Today: Third Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XizwW0g2CkC&pg=PA228|date=29 November 2005|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-7179-9|page=228}}</ref> Benn "was stridently against membership",<ref name="Jones2007">{{cite book|first=Alistair|last= Jones|title=Britain and the European Union|url=https://archive.org/details/britaineuropeanu0000jone|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-2428-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/britaineuropeanu0000jone/page/135 135]}}</ref> and campaigned in favour of a referendum on the UK's membership. [[Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)|The Shadow Cabinet]] voted to support a referendum on 29 March 1972, and as a result [[Roy Jenkins]] resigned as [[Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Labour Party]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=David |author-link=David Butler (psephologist) |author-link2=Dennis Kavanagh|last2=Kavanagh |first2=Dennis |title=The British General Election of February 1974 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishgeneralel0000butl_m7o7 |url-access=registration |publisher=Macmillan |year=1974 |page=[https://archive.org/details/britishgeneralel0000butl_m7o7/page/20 20] |isbn=978-0333172971}}</ref>