RIP: Tony Benn

He died a few days before another March 19 anniversary of the war he opposed.

A lot of remembrances are here, of course.

Gary Younge on Benn as someone who "knew the rules but would not play the game."

Michael Winship—

What I will always remember about Tony Benn is a sort of pop quiz he devised to put truth to power. He explained it in 2001, during his farewell speech to the House of Commons:

"In the course of my life I have developed five little democratic questions. If one meets a powerful person — Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates — ask them five questions: 'What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?' If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system."