Financial Times 03.7.2020

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ILLUSTRATIONBYLUCAS VARELA

ROBERTSHRIMSLEY

THE NATIONALCONVERSATION

I

washugelyexcitedtohearlast

weekoftheplanforaTonyBenn

UniversityofPoliticalEducation.

Theschemeisthebrainchild–I

knowonehesitatestousethatword

inthisinstance–ofRichardBurgon,

asoon-to-be-defeatedcandidatefor

Labour’s deputyleadership.

Idoubtheactuallybelievesin

theideabuthehopesitwillhelp

himcornertheenviouspositionof

moralheirtoJeremyCorbyn,once

RebeccaLongBaileyhaslostthe

Labourleadershipcontest.

Burgonisapproachingthat

taskwithasplendidlycynical

demeanour.Itbasicallyseemsto

involve comingupwiththemost

leftwingideasimaginableandthen

promisingtoimplementthemif

elected.Thisisnotaseasyasyou

mightthink.Severalofthemost

promisingwackynotionswerein

thelastLabourmanifesto.Itwould

beveryeasytotakeawrongstep,

suchasinsistingallfootball

matchesendinadraworoffering

freebroadbandtoallvoters.

ButBurgonarguesthattheparty

andthenationwillbenefitfromthis

newcentre ofpoliticalexcellence

–although,obviously, excellenceis

abitelitist,soitoughtbyrightsto

bemoreofacentreofaverageness

andmediocrity.Namingthecollege

afterBennisanicetouch,though

ifthingsgowellforthenextLabour

leader,hemayfeelaKeirStarmer

Collegeismoreappropriate.

ItiseasytomocktheTonyBenn

University–atleastIhopeitis, I’ve

got700wordstofillhere –butTBU

couldbeexcitingandintellectually

stimulating.(Incidentally,oneof

thegreatstoriesaboutBennis

whenhetoldhisfellowLabourMP

TonyCroslandthattheyneededto

losethestigmaofintellectualism,

andCroslandreplied:“You’dbetter

gainitfirst.”)

There arebigquestionsraised

bytheplan.WilltheTonyBenn

UniversityhaveaRagWeek?

Whatwillitsattitudebetostudent

sit-ins?Willthelecturersbe

punishedorpromotedforgoing

onstrike?Willthereeverbeany

daysnotlosttoindustrialaction?

Infact,willturningupforlectures

leadtomarksbeingdeducted?

Itisworthcontemplatinglife

onTBU’s pitheadcampus.Forone

thing,itwouldobviouslybefree–

Tonywouldnothave wanted

tuitionfeescharged–soitwill

beopentostudentsofallmeans

andnone.Thisalreadymakesit

significantlymoreattractive than

quitealotofthealternativesthat

chargefeesandaren’t namedafter

TonyBenn:theJamesChuterEde

UniversityofHomeAffairs,the

StaffordCrippsCollegeofFinancial

EngineeringandtheTonyBlair

CollegeofJustGimmetheMoney.

Thenagain,perhapsitwillbe

reversemeans-testedsothatonly

thewealthypay,theproblemhere

beingthattheymightthendecide

togotoa–oh,what’stheword?–

seriousuniversityinstead.

Theuniversitywillofferawide

rangeofcourses, includingavery

healthydoseofMarxistdialectic,

Gramsciancritique,howLabour

wontheargumentatthelast

electionandabsolutelyoodlesof

coursesontheLatin-American

model,whichwouldalsoattract

publicschoolboyswhoweregood

atclassicsandmisreadthetitle.

Obviously, therewillbealotof

contemporaryhistory:themyth

oftheSovietpurges;warcrimes

fromKennedy toBlair;andthe

Torygovernment,1979-2010.

Therewillbesidemodulesin

howwewouldhave wonifitwasn’t

forthemedia;howwewouldhave

wonifitwasn’t forBlairites;how

wewouldhave wonifitwasn’t for

thewarmongers;andhowwewould

have wonifitwasn’t fortheJews,

sorryZionists.Andtherewillbe

ampleextra-curricularactivities,

includingaveryhealthydoseof

Marxistdialectic,Gramscian

critiqueandhowLabourwonthe

argumentatthelastelection.

Itisearlydays,andverymuch

intheconceptualstage,but,sadly,

theremaynotbeanycompetitive

sport–thoughtheremayberoom

forfive-a-sideGramsciancritique

andaqua-Marxistdialectic.

Giventhecommitmentto

lifelongeducation,adegreefrom

TBUmaybejustthestart.After

theTonyBennUniversityfor

PoliticalEducationcouldperhaps

cometheJeremyCorbynCollege

forPoliticalRe-education.I’m

surprisedBurgonhasn’t thought

ofthisalready. Perhapshe’s

savingitforthefinalrun-in.

Re“Whypenguinsmayhelp

uspredicttheimpactofclimate

change”(February29/March1):

asuperbpieceofreportingon

anissueandaregionthatliesat

theheartofwhatitmeanstobe

ahumanonthisplanet.

LiuXiaoboviaFT.com

Iadmire thehumanismof

AnneCaseandAngusDeaton’s

research(“America’s ‘deathsof

despair’andhowtotacklethem”,

February29/March1),andIalso

commendJoshuaChaffinforhis

excellentreporting.Pieceslike

thisareabridgetoempathy.

Thesepeoplewentfromsomething

tolittletonothing.Theywere

basicallypurged,bearingthebrunt

ofchangesinthevalue/supply

chain–theirjobswere traded.

EphialtesviaFT.com

FurthertoGillianTett’scolumn,

“Anall-Americanapproachto

legalisingmarijuana”(February

29/March1).It’stime.Butthe

rightwaytogoaboutthisisto

legalisemarijuanaatafederal

levelandthenletindividualstates

decidehowtheywanttoregulate

andtaxusageforthemselves.

Itwillhappen.

GoodEuropeanviaFT.com

ThearticlebyOliviaLaingshines

beautifullightonAndyWarhol

(February29/March1).Asa

17-year-old,IencounteredWarhol

inaweek-longarthappeningin

Finland.Iquitschoolfortheweek

tocoveritasapressperson.Itwas

hisfour-andfive-hourfilmsin

particularthatknockedmeout.

Warholhasrevealedsomanyother

unexpectedfacetseachtimeone

encountersartproducedbyhis

curiousmind.

TapaniTalo–ArchitectviaFT.com

[email protected]

@robertshrimsley

To markInternationalWomen’s Day,wespeaktoLauraBates, EmmaDabiri

andEmiliePineaboutfeminismnow.L istentotheconversationinthelatest

CultureCall,theFT’s transatlanticculturepodcast;ft.com/culture-call

@KeithNHumphreysFebruary

Excellentprofilevia@FT

illuminatesthateconomist

AnneCase is exceptionalnot

onlyin herintelligencebut

alsoin hercompassion

Qui

zanswers

Thelinkwasmetals1.JamesGoldsmith

(TheReferendumparty)2.TinMachine

(ThesingerwasDavidBowie)3.

David Copper

field

4.Ironlung

5.Nickelodeon

(“Putanother

nickelin...”)6.Google

Chrome7. Mercury8.Brass9.SteelCity10.

Silver Linings

Playbook

Picturequiz

BusterMerryfield+DianeKeaton=BusterKeaton