The Benn Diaries: 1940-1990 (22 page)

Wednesday 24 June

Up at 5 and worked until breakfast. Arriving at Transport House this morning for the National Executive meeting, I heard a lot of chanting and shouting and saw a number of people with placards outside the building. It was a demonstration laid on because of the suspension of the Streatham Young Socialists. I don’t know how many of them had been whipped up by the Socialist Labour League and its leader Gerry Healy. The place was crawling with police. We did expel two Young Socialists and there was no discussion of this at all. I would certainly have raised it but for the demonstration.

The only other thing of interest this morning was that we approved the Ombudsman proposal, which I think is very important indeed.

Saturday 27 June

A lovely hot day and the family was in the garden most of the time. I spent the afternoon working to get the basement kitchen organised. Caroline went to the hospital to see June and her new baby, Frances. Every few minutes the phone seems to ring with another American who’s in town and hopes to see us. We have almost got to the point of taking the telephone off the hook.

Tuesday 30 June

This evening Tam Dalyell and I wandered round the House of Lords’ end of the building to find out just what accommodation was available there if the Commons were to take it over. We walked along deserted corridors, looking in offices and making a note of the accommodation. We stumbled on the Civil Defence Room and found on the wall huge charts showing the rooms on each floor and roughly specifying their purpose. We were going to copy them all down but it would have been too big a job. What is needed is a photograph of them or to go along with a tape recorder and read off all the names on to a machine. At one stage we were stopped by a policeman who
sent us away. Then we met a custodian – Mr Wilkinson, who used to be a dustman at Grosvenor Road when I was a child – and he took us and showed us many other rooms. I have arranged to go and see the whole palace one night with him. What is required is a blazing attack on the whole system.

Thursday 2 July

A huge row has developed about my nocturnal prowlings with Tam Dalyell around the Lords. The Lord Great Chamberlain wrote to the Serjeant-at-Arms and it was reported to Bowden, who went to see Harold. Harold said that we should apologise to the Lord Great Chamberlain. Bowden asked us to do so. Tam and I refused. We are circulating a motion as follows:

We plan to make this into a backbench revolt on 13 July, when accommodation is discussed. Harold takes no interest in this point and has got to be forced to realise that it is a live issue.

To the BBC this evening to do the debate with Eden. It was the usual predigested spot-timed cockfight.

Monday 13 July

This afternoon Dick Crossman went to see Harold and he told Dick that he was going to make me Postmaster-General, give me a chance there for eighteen months and then to the Ministry of Transport. I have no idea whether this is true or not (not Dick’s story, of course, but Harold’s intention). If it is, I don’t think there’s much point in sweating my guts out on transport policy between now and the Election. I’ll borrow a book on the Post Office and take it on holiday instead. It would be a most interesting job to have and if I got it it would be attributable entirely to the memorandum I wrote to Harold last October. Such are the uncertainties of politics. But it is the first time that it has even been indicated officially that I am going to get anything.

Thursday 16 July

To the Commons and started looking through all the books on the Post Office. Most of the histories were written in the last century or the 1920s. It confirms my impression that the GPO has not (except possibly when Marples was PMG) been an up-to-date, go-ahead organisation.

Friday 17 July

Caroline and I went to Durham and attended the pre-Gala dinner. Also there were Harold Wilson, Frank Cousins, Will Paynter, Sam Watson and others.

At dinner I could hear Sam asking Harold who would be doing what in the Labour Government and I could just hear Harold giving some names. Afterwards when I was alone Harold came up to me and said, ‘Tony, I thought it would be helpful if you knew that I want you to be Postmaster-General in the Government.’

I wasn’t, of course, at all surprised, since Dick had told me this on Monday. It is a job I would very much like to have, but seemingly Harold thought I would be very disappointed at not being Minister of Transport to which I could reasonably lay some claim and which had confidently been expected by all the papers predicting the Government he would set up. He also knew that it was not a Cabinet job and therefore went out of his way to repeat what he had said before to me, that this was only for eighteen months. ‘My real Cabinet will be made in 1966 – just as Clem’s was made in 1947,’ he said.

He told me that Frank Cousins would be Minister of Transport and he also told me the names of a number of other appointments. Frank Soskice for the Home Office (if he lives), Tony Greenwood for the Colonies, Sir Hugh Foot (with a peerage) to the UN, Gerald Gardiner on the Woolsack, Peggy Herbison at Pensions, Barbara Castle (in the Cabinet) at Overseas Aid.

I asked about the Assistant Postmaster General and he said that it would be Joe Slater, his PPS, who is very nice. Roy Mason is to go as Minister of State shared between Dick Crossman at Education and Science and the Minister of Labour to deal with retraining. Dick’s other Ministers are to be Reg Prentice for schools and Lord Bowden for universities.

Harold stressed that I would be the only one of the newcomers to be head of a department, ie a departmental Minister of Cabinet rank, though outside the Cabinet, and that he thought that would be extremely important with University of the Air to launch and the Giro system to introduce. I reminded him that I had sent him a memo on the Post Office last November and he said he remembered it but had intended this earlier. ‘I had thought of you doing a Bill Deedes – PRO for the Government – but decided against it.’ I told him I was very glad he had as it is a job I would hate.

Wednesday 22 July

Caroline, Melissa and Joshua came to the House of Commons for tea on the terrace today. Afterwards they all went into the House of Commons just as Churchill was leaving the debate. It will be quite a thing for them to be able to say that they actually saw Churchill. If they live to be ninety – his age –
they will be saying in 2040 that they remember seeing a man who was elected to Parliament 150 years before.

This evening to Broadcasting House to help Denis Healey do a party political broadcast on Labour defence policy.

Friday 31 July – Saturday 1 August

To celebrate the beginning of the holiday I slept in the garden with Stephen and Hilary and we ate sausages and had a hurricane lamp. Tommy Balogh phoned. Ian Grimble came for lunch. The trouble is you can’t cut the phone off. Started work on sticking in the family snapshots since 1959.

Monday 10 August

To Transport House this afternoon to see the set which has been prepared for the Election broadcasts. Then to the House of Commons to see Harold Wilson, who had flown back from the Scilly Isles today in view of the serious crises in Vietnam and Cyprus. He looked fit and well. We are saying nothing about Cyprus because there is nothing to be said, and on Vietnam we are terrified of saying anything that might upset the Americans. The British Government needs American support against Sukarno, who is attacking Malaysia and Wilson is particularly anxious not to upset Johnson at this stage. That is the way politics go.

Thursday 10 September

Valerie worked all day on Election preparations. She is checking through the list of Party members that I had, to see if they are still on the register and to put in Christian names and correct addresses. Meanwhile I have prepared a pile of material to go to them. The first is a letter telling them how important the campaign is and this is accompanied by the fact-sheet on conditions in Bristol, and a summary of the Election manifesto. Also going in is a Help card addressed to me for return and an excellent card on my advice service.

Tuesday 15 September

Worked in the office this morning. The first edition of the new
Sun
newspaper was published today – after a huge press and advertising ballyhoo build-up. It is appalling. It is slightly bigger than the
Herald
but basically the same – minus the limited
Herald
political content. It is a pale wishy-washy imitation of the
Daily Mail
and I don’t honestly see how it can survive as a daily. It is the product of market research, without any inner strength and message. There is little hard news – pages of fluffy features and nothing hard to bite on. I am afraid that it may not be as much of a help to us between now and polling day as we had hoped.

To Bristol this afternoon and had a surgery and then went back to Unity House to discuss the Election plans with Herbert Rogers. The fact is that he
has been able to do practically nothing and all the work on the Election which is being done in London by Valerie is going to be essential.

This afternoon the Prime Minister announced the date of the Election: which is to be Thursday 15 October, as we had all anticipated for so long.

This evening Peter Shore limped to Stepney again and was adopted as the candidate. I am delighted. Even though he is clearly a sick man and will need at least a month’s complete rest he will be an MP at the end of it, whatever he does.

Wednesday 23 September

Harold Wilson phoned at 10.30 pm last night – and I was in bed – to say that my press release had been on the news and how effective it had been. He has never rung me at home and I have no doubt that he did it because I had been to complain yesterday about the broadcasting position, and he wanted to keep me sweet.

Dick and Tommy and I have to pretend we don’t exist. Kennedy never minded it being known that he had speech writers and advisers, but Harold does. It’s very silly but I know that my capacity to influence him depends upon total self-erasure. Dick finds this unbearable and is always leaking how central he is.

To see Harold at 11 and went over his future speeches. He couldn’t have been more friendly.

Monday 5 October

To Lime Grove for the preparation of the Labour Party Election broadcast. It was an incredible afternoon. Dick Crossman, Michael Stewart and Kenneth Robinson were the principal participants. Shirley Williams was to link it. Everything went wrong and we had to reshoot many of the bits twice and even three times. Michael and Kenneth were delightful but Dick Crossman got into a tremendous temper and stamped up and down, shouting and swearing at everybody for having been kept waiting. He really is the most appalling prima donna. After he had recorded his piece he apologised, and then stayed for a drink and by the time he finally left, at 7.45, he had resumed his aggressive posture.

I went to Television Centre to be there while the editing took place and was then told that they had not had time to make the cuts and joins required and that it was quite possible that the film would break down. At 9.15 I returned to Lime Grove, was put in the set which was lighted and the whole crew was standing by. I had to watch the programme on a monitor and if at any point it broke, the camera was to come to me and I had to carry on as best I could until they could find a part of the tape which was good, in which case I was to hand back to it. It was the most appalling sweat and strain sitting there watching, expecting a break at any moment. In the event, one didn’t happen and I got back home at about 10 o’clock, really washed out.

Friday 16 October

The result was declared about 1.15 and I had a majority of 9,800 – 4,000 better than last time. There were quite a few people in the street for the declaration and then we were towed in the traditional way, sitting on top of our car up to the Walter Baker Hall. After that we went to BBC Bristol for a television insert into the results programme. Then on to the TWW interview, followed by a radio interview and finally got to bed about 4.30. It is dear that Labour is winning.

Up at 8 and drove home listening to the results programme on the radio all the way. Lunch at London Airport and home by 2.30. There is an overall Labour majority of four only. Home has resigned the premiership and Harold Wilson has formed a government. We’ve waited thirteen years for this.

Sunday 18 October

ONE OF THE
oldest jokes in politics is about hopeful candidates for office who stay by their telephones when a new government is formed, just like husbands waiting for their wives to have their first babies. For both it’s awful.