International Law

Bobby Sands leaves Benn in tears

By John Hirst

Tony Benn broke down in tears at the Edinburgh Book Festival as he recalled the late Bobby Sands, the republican MP who died while on hunger strike in the Maze prison, Belfast, in 1981. ?Our revenge, Bobby Sands said, will be the laughter of our children,? he said, as tears began to stream down his cheeks. ?I?m sorry, but it moves me greatly?.

He also warned his daughter Melissa, sitting in the audience, that she will not thank him when he dies for leaving her to deal with his vast personal archive, which includes leaflets he posted through letterboxes during the 1935 general election. He recalled his grandmother?s words as she approached the end of her life: ?The great thing about your last journey is that you don?t have to pack?.

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).