“It sounds very innocent,” said Tony Benn, shortly before he died in 2014, “But if you have given people confidence that they can do something, that is a real achievement. I look back and think: ‘Have I always explained things to people truthfully? Have I always said what I meant and meant what I said?’ And as a result of that, have I encouraged people to have confidence in themselves? All I would want on my gravestone would be: ‘Here Lies Tony Benn: He Encouraged Us.’”

He summed up his political career with these words:

“From the beginning of time there have been two flames burning in the human heart. The flame of anger against injustice, and the flame of hope you can build a better world. And my job is to go round fanning both flames.”

Tony Benn’s 10-minute history lesson for neoliberals