Emily Benn wants the former First Minister to apologise for saying her grandfather would be turning “in his grave” at Hilary Benn’s speech in favour of bombing Syria.
The SNP MP and former First Minister Alex Salmond said that the late Tony Benn would be “burling in his grave” at his son Hilary’s Commons speech in favour of joining air strikes in Syria.
He told LBC:
“His [Hilary Benn’s] father, whose speech I heard in the Iraq debate all these years ago, would be burling in his grave hearing a speech in favour of a Tory prime minister wanting to take the country to war and that’s just a reality.”
Tony Benn’s granddaughter Emily has called on Salmond to retract his comment:
@georgeeaton@AlexSalmond Mr Salmond, Your comments are both deeply offensive and simply untrue. I hope you reflect and retract them
— Emily Benn (@Emily_Benn) December 3, 2015
Hilary Benn’s speech, which closed the Syria air strikes debate in parliament, was praised by all sides of the House, moving MPs to tears and sparking a standing ovation in the chamber. Watch it here.