he knew him from oxbridge.

Exactly, Tony Benn was a great man, RIP

+Anthony are you deluded. If Tony Benn thought this character was intelligent then he was already off his rocker as you are.

Anthony Monaghan When he referred to Ali G as a very clever man, I believe he wasn't aware that Ali G was just the character's name; as he was speculating on a possible motivation for the show and (Sacha Baron-Cohen's) overall intentions. Even the most well-intentioned person would struggle to find anything intelligent about the character of Ali G - as the stupidity of the things that he says - is the very core of what's funny about it.

comanchio1976 they’re not the most stupid questions, he addresses valid issues such as the democratic participation crisis in the UK and the perceived failure of the welfare state along with the socio economic stagnation of working class communities who rely on it, you could even argue that it’s a reflection of Sacha’s wider work that draws out the absurdity of reality through the absurdity of his larger than life characters in order to create comedy.

He got both, not many observant people in the comments is there?

I agree and 3:29 Sasha struggles to keep the the Ali g character going... respect for tony

Tony Benn was a legend

You are delusional.

I've seen him shake other people's hands.

Respekkk!!

Attlee *was* PM...

The socialist hypocrite left £5m in his will.

@@saxglend9439 lol, the idea that socialists can't be rich because they are socialist is just dumb. I can be rich, care about other people having rights to healthcare, wealth re-distribution etc, and advocate for higher taxes - the system doesn't mean those things are hypocritical...

@@Theo-bb6pn Give your money to the poor you hypocrite.

Benn is a true G!

Well..Cohen is a true Leftie..

Brings tears to my eyes.

Fucking legend. Cohen really struggled to find anything to make a joke out of which proves Benn was a morally sound person of fairness and truly believes in democracy, unlike the EU.

Loundsify He would have had a fit at the Great Repeal Bill then ...

He's still alive

⁠​⁠@@LaMilice.unfortunately Tony Benn is dead

@@amo-kd9cn so you claim

@@LaMilice. I’m sorry is this some conspiracy theory or something he died in 2014?

@@amo-kd9cn allegedly

Boutros Boutros Ghali came out looking pretty good too.

saved me writing pretty much the same thing, it tells everything about the man that he can come across so well when being hoaxed !

chomsky did too, though he did come across as a bit of a humorless old grouch

Dale Cunningham Respek

I thought Ralph Nader finished very strongly.

I think Tony Benn eventually realised it was a set-up. I didn't agree with with him on everything but always found him worth listening to. His diaries are very good.

When was Benn Prime Minister?

What about John Smith?

@@gabrielm622 in my dreams!

watch the one he did with Dennis Pennis he didn't like him

definately he was a good guy , however I think he put too much faith in the British work ethic though.

@@Dec38105 I kind of agree, but it's a complicated subject. I don't believe anyone wants to be poor. It's not much fun having nothing - and having nothing to get up for.. Although it's easy to see someone that doesn't work, and assume they are lazy, there can be many reasons why, and it's often some form of mental illness. Once you get stuck in that trap it can be hard to get out of it. There needs to be more help to get people back into work.

@@Mickparrysstepdad the issue that lies with a welfare system is that it does get abused so those who do need it are the ones hurting from it. I understand mr benns thinking in this regard that we need to look out for those who need it however i think he is naive in thinking these lazy people dont exist. However this is no longer the 80s and jobs are easy to come by these days even though we do live in greedier times. There are people who are certainly ok being poor if it means not working they are often happy to just steal because its easy to get away with it.

@@chrishodge13 I know someone who was unemployed and claiming for a while, and it sounded more difficult than actually going to work! She had to look online for work a certain amount of hours a day, and they could somehow record her activity to make sure she did it. She also had to do lots of courses, and regular visits to the job centre to prove she'd been actively looking for work. If you don't follow the rules, you get 'sanctioned' and have your benefits reduced. LOL at (some of) the poor stealing a few quid when our own very rich government have been stealing billions from us.

Yeah cos he knew what life was like before the unions were undermined and factories were closed an the pits were taken away.

Zero sense of humour, he thought it was for real. Even Trump saw through him.

JB Price Trump was just disinterested - as he's disinterested in anything that doesn't stroke his ego. I don't remember Trump laughing either - at least Benn cracked a smile at the end. It's interesting that you interpret the Trump interview in the best possible way; classic confirmation bias - as Trump doesn't possess a sense of humour and is a total sociopath. Benn laughed when he found out this was a skit. He took the questions seriously, as he was aware that many people share the views consistent with the questions, and it was something he cared passionately about. The only thing Trump cares about, is himself.

@@comanchio1976 Trump totally has a sense of humour. Have you seen him talk? He peppers everything with jokes and quips.

@@basketcase6999 He's a delusional liberal who bases his life around "orange man bad", ignore him

@@derekchauvin2756 bruh orange man is definitely stupid though and i'm not even liberal or american

Exactly

How? taxation is theft.

I think you’ll find that was Enoch Powell.

@@chronobound6617 So you're telling me that the social contract is slavery, too, right? In which case, why don't you fuck off to the Alaskan wilderness and don't talk to or rely on anybody else?

@@ZhangK71 What utter shite, Mill created the social contract with his views on taxation in line with mine, sacrificing freedoms to the state in return for protection != stealing hard earned cash, psued.

+Stuart Jebbitt Donald Trump also beat Ali G. Sussed him almost immediately and quickly move on.

Newt Gingrich beat him

Al feyed won

James Lipton came away looking very good.

Jacobn Rees Mogg held his own pretty well.

Exactly, well said

Your comment was 7 years ago. You should see the sh*t show going on right now.

He knows cohen from oxbridge

Respek*

aight

Respec

I also instantly noticed. It is such a signature move. But he broke character out of respect :-)

respecc*

@@Canoptopus aight.

Well, we had Corbyn but nobody wants socialism anymore. Bit fucking shite weird.

Lefty prat living in cuckoo land.

i wish i had a dad like him

Funny thing is search tony Benns speech before Iraq, so much passion I've never seen a speech like it. Then search hillary Bens speech before Syria. Tony fighting against war hillary for it. Father and son

Bernie Sanders is the closest that you have (or had). Well said and good look!

Innit

forreal

He shook his hand instead of props

The days of politicians like Tony Benn are long gone. Such a shame. They were the only hope for the people.

​@@matoko123that bloke with the beard was the last decent one, look what they did to him..

@@thedeepesthat4029 I could not agree with you more. He was totally taken down by a minority group. If you don't tow 'their' line you don't get in a position of power.

We've got Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. They all have his sort of mindset.

@@liamcraddock9539 What? #

Agree

I noticed that too - both extremely intelligent men.

The joy on his face of being "nailed" by Benn. TV presenter Tony Wilson said on _After Dark_ , "now I know what it's like going three rounds withTyson".

Love this part lol 😂 Tony was so passionate lol 😂

@@ownSystem I love it when somebody replies to a comment I made in ancient times because I get to rewatch the video

+Tomas Phillips that's why he said never had

+Tomas Phillips That's what he said. "The best Prime Minister that Britain NEVER had.

I couldn't agree more

+wks107tdv123 yes but do you realise he wasn't actually the prime minister

+Tomas Phillips Dude read my comment a little more carefully.

If he's all this good and just why never win. Weird

@@welcometolife4237 that ones easy. Britain’s full of right wing selfish arseholes and the daily mail and the like constantly encourage it.

@@welcometolife4237 The good and just are not allowed to win in politics these days. Those values are meaningless.

He possibly had some Irish in him?

Don Carlino Iain Duncan Smith is your hero.

Don Carlino *_All hatred is ultimately self hatred._* That's an aphorism I quite like. I'm genuinely uncertain if it's true or not. Do you think it is?

Don Carlino I appreciate the sincere reply. You are indeed exceptionally fortunate. A slightly personal question, and thus one I'll certainly understand if you'd prefer to not answer: Have you previously experienced unhappiness that was both extreme and prolonged? By prolonged I mean (very roughly speaking) over six months.

Nobody who likes full employment is intelligent

+murray how on earth he thought this ali g character was very well informed is bizarre.

@@boliussa Because they did not show every part of the interview or pre-interview on the show. I'm sure that Sasha Baron Cohen said enough true things to get Benn to take him seriously. These interactions are edited - you see only the silliest few minutes from a lot of work that was put in.

I went to an audience with Tony Benn and somebody asked about this interview. Tony mentioned that he was invited to be in the film "Ali G in da House" but he turned it down.

Smash socialism

For a rare great , principled and decent politician

You can tell Sacha Baron Cohen respected him as he even shook his hand in the end instead of the old fist bump

Tony Benn was a great man, RIP

+Robin Hood I agree

Robin Hood I'm halfway there

@FatalPies It's clear you know nothing of Benn's life and work. Remain ignorant if you wish but don't then make grand proclamations, you just look silly and naïve.

By far, very far. Unforgettable and irreplaceable.

Very well written.

IMHO, I think this is one of the few interviews where the interviewer bested Ali G rather than be made to look like a fool.

For real

Tony England he sounds kind of like an idiot who lives in a fantasy world where lazy people who don’t abuse the welfare system don’t exist

the poor deserve to be compensated for outsourcing and mass immigration

@@paulandrews952 You think lazy people don't abuse the capitalist system? Most of the super-rich in this country have never done a hard days work in their lives.

Benn.

Yes Benn, that is correct 👍

Dave Long Whatever!

Best in all politics, of all time!

But he didn't win people vote. Why

It was already true at the time. Chavs have existed for a while. Now we've got roadmen as well.

His wartime experience affected him greatly. He remembered the Blitz, one of his brothers was killed in action and he was trained to fly a Spitfire.

Benn.