Sunday Spot - Tony Benn on death threats

One of the occupational hazards of being involved in politics at anything above the level of backbench councillor is the need to judge when people who threaten to kill you are actually making a serious death threat which needs to be reported to the police and when they are just indulging in hot air which is best ignored. Unfortunately the only safe rule is that if you are in the least doubt you had better report it - which means another waste of police time.

Tony Benn had an amusing item on the subject at the tail end of his "My Week" piece in today's Sunday Times ...


NATIONAL TREASURE? NO THANKS

I got a death threat the other day. I was very chuffed as I’ve not had one for years. Once I was called the most dangerous man in Britain; now I’m told I’m a national treasure. That’s the final corruption in life: you become a kindly, harmless old gentleman. I am kindly, I am old and I can be a gentleman, but I’m not harmless.

When I was a minister, a man wrote to say he was going to kill me. Fortunately, he put his name and address on the letter so my officials sent the police round. The man then sent a second letter. “Dear Mr Benn,” it said. “I recognise that my last letter to you was in rather bad taste. Will you please ask the police to go away?”

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