The Benn Tapes 2

Late each night for over 25 years, the Labour MP and former Secretary of State, Tony Benn, has sat alone and dictated onto tape his account of the daily events at the heart of government, unburdening himself of the pressure and stress, trials and tribulations of government and opposition with accounts which veer from anecdotal to almost confessional. In the tapes in this pack, which were broadcast in his second Radio 4 series, Benn reveals what he discovered behind the scenes in the nuclear industry, and why he now believes nuclear power to be unsafe. He recalls what happened during cabinet reshuffles by Wilson and Callaghan, and he traces the split in the party which followed its 1979 defeat, the emergence of the Social Democratic Party, and his challenge to Labour's deputy leader, Denis Healey. In the accompanying booklet, Benn gives further background to the recordings.