Tony Benn remembered by Saffron Burrows

3 April 1925-14 March 2014
The actor and longtime friend of the Labour politician recalls a tireless activist who loved people, talking – and tea

• See the Observer’s obituaries of 2014 in full

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It feels like there was my life before Tony died, and my life now. We shared a particular, singular friendship, one that began in my 20s and in Tony’s post-parliamentary era. Over 14 years, he became my friend, my confidante and, eventually, my protector.

We met, for “the first time”, more than once. As a child, during a miners’ rally on a town hall steps, I approached him, asking for his signature in a book of his that I clutched in my hand. Of that day I recall his kindness, his stooping down to speak to me, and not much more.