(7.00pm 2 Feb) ITV News tonight confirms that Wedgewood Benn has had a "secret meeting" with Saddam Hussein and that Benn feels much more confident that war can be averted. Apparently Saddam is due to give a speech soon and will make some new proposals.
Sounds interesting. Keith Hudson <<<< Part 1 (8.00am 2 Feb) One of the news items I will be looking out for in the next few days will be what Wedgewood Benn will say when he returns from Baghdad. For those who don't know of him, Benn is retired, longtime Labour Party MP (over 40 years) and a romantic socialist of the William Morris sort. He's a bit of a hypocrite. The Benn family were well-off publishers and there's a great deal of family money still buried in a private trust in order to escape the normal taxation that affects the rest of us except the rich. I don't blame Benn for remaining part of this racket. I'd do the same myself except that I wouldn't call myself a socialist at the same time. As it is, despite his stated egalitarian views, he is part of the English aristocracy and has more than a little of the noblesse oblige about him. However, he is a refreshingly honest and perceptive observer of politics and, as an ex-Government Minister in Prime Minister's Wilson's administration of the 70s, he's had considerable experience of what actually happens behind the scenes. I've a great deal of time for him even though I find many of his views to be simplistic and, quite often, barmy. I don't suppose for a minute that he has anything in common with Saddam Hussein even though the latter calls himself a socialist. Nevertheless, because of Benn's reputation and wide influence in England, it is pretty certain that Saddam and/or his senior officials will be speaking with Benn pretty extensively. If Benn does not already know them -- which I suspect he does already, and accurately, too -- then he'll learn the true facts of the matter very clearly. I'm looking forward to hearing what Benn has to say when he returns. It will almost certainly be the most accurate view that's available today. I suspect that it will be his view, not Blair's, that will prevail over most of the Labour Party in England and, indeed, split it if Blair continues to support Bush. I think that Blair, like Bush, is heading for political disaster (and more immediately). Keith Hudson <<<<< ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
