Tony Benn Will Be Missed
Today, we, like many other people across Britain, were saddened to hear about the death of the legendary Tony Benn, who was a great friend to animals.
Famous for always speaking his mind and standing up for what he believed and described by Ed Miliband as a “champion of the powerless”, Benn always fought for those without a voice in society – including animals. He protested against laboratories that test on animals, voted in Parliament against fox hunting, lent his support to animal rights groups, including PETA – and practiced what he preached every day by sticking to a vegetarian diet.
Here are a few of our favourite quotes from this remarkable man, who will be sorely missed.
On giving up meat:
I never liked meat and my son Hilary, 30 years ago, said: “If the world ate the grain instead of feeding it to animals and killing them, there would be enough food for everybody.” That moment my wife and I became vegetarian and I never touched meat since.
On animal rights:
On animal testing:
The tide is turning fast against those who still cling on to the view that experimentation and testing of drugs on animals is valid and necessary.
On cruelty:
Unquestioning brutality like slaughter and capital punishment does corrupt you and is a blot on the civilizing of society.
On the bill to ban fox hunting:
The support [for the bill] comes from people young and old–it is not confined to the young, although it is very strong among them–who believe that cruelty to entertain is wrong, and I share that view… As a vegetarian and someone who has always supported animal rights, I feel that we have a duty in a representative assembly to reflect properly the feeling that exists.
On changing the world:
“Tony Benn” by Regent’s University London | CC BY 2.0
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Rest in peace Mr Benn.
