Benn urges return to socialist Labour

Members of New Labour are now the "most powerful advocates of capitalism", Tony Benn, the prominent Labour left-winger, said yesterday.

The MP for Chesterfield called for a return to Old Labour, socialist values such as a "fairer", redistributive tax system, stronger trade union rights and greater state control of multinational corporations.

Mr Benn, who is retiring from Parliament "to enter politics" at the next general election, told MPs he had wanted the debate to be entitled "Socialism". But he was forced to call a debate on "Wealth, Poverty and the Economic System" after being told that no Government minister's responsibilities included socialism.

"The most powerful advocates of capitalism today are to be found among the social democrats," Mr Benn said. "I don't want in any way today to be controversial, but it is a fact that you cannot find anywhere in Britain more powerful advocates of market forces and globalisation than in the party that describes itself as New Labour."

The Prime Minister and his followers needed to remember that the most popular parts of national life, such as the health service, had socialist foundations, Mr Benn claimed.

"If you look at society today, although socialism is widely held by the establishment to be out-dated and so on, you will find the things that are the most popular in Britain are thoselittle pockets of socialism where areas of life have been excluded from the crude operationof market forces and are protected for the benefit of the community."

Tony Blair's Third Way was in fact a "coalition around the idea there is a common view at the top - that this is the only way you can manage things and this is a sort of one-party state," Mr Benn said.

Voters were becoming more apathetic because of the lack of real choice in politics, he warned, adding: "That is a recipe for conflict and oppression."