Today (18 January 2002) the veteran Labour left-winger Tony Benn comes to Cambridge to launch the annual Darwin Lecture series, which this year focuses on the theme of power. In his lecture, entitled Power and Democracy, Benn describes the historic demand for democratic control and the opposition which it has always faced in Britain and world-wide.

He argues that democracy, which potentially gives real power to the powerless, has always been seen as a threat by the powerful.

He draws a comparison between communism and capitalism: under both it is possible to pick the leaders, but much harder to discuss the systems or to challenge their basic assumptions - a characteristic shared in nations where religious organizations are in power.

He draws attention to the impact of globalization and the media upon existing democratic institutions and suggests some ways in which greater democratic control over those with power might be secured, here and worldwide.

Born into an aristocratic family and educated at Westminster and New College, Oxford, Tony Benn trained as a pilot during the second world war. He was elected to Parliament in 1950. Anticipating that inheritance of his father's peerage would disqualify him from continuing to serve in the House of Commons, he campaigned for a bill to permit him to renounce the title. This struggle lasted until 1963 when the Peerage Act was passed. As MP for Bristol South East, he served as a cabinet minister in the Wilson and Callaghan governments from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1979. In 1984 he became Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, and increasingly took on the role of unofficial leader of the Labour party's radical left. In 2001 he gave up his parliamentary seat because he "wanted to devote more time to politics".

Darwin Lectures
The Darwin Lectures, a series of public lectures run in the second term of each academic year, were established in 1986 and quickly established themselves as one of the highlights of the University's yearly programme of public education.

The lectures are given at 5.30 pm in Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue. An adjacent overflow theatre is provided with live TV coverage. Each lecture is typically attended by 600 people, and it is advisable to arrive around half an hour early to ensure a place. The lectures will be published as a book within the Darwin Series by Cambridge University Press in early 2003.

Next week's lecture will be given by the Director of the Dunn Human Nutrition Unit Dr John E. Walker, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Paul Boyer and Jens Skou, for his work on the formation of ATP - the universal energy carrier in the living cell. Dr Walker's lecture is entitled Power and Chemistry.

For further information on the Darwin Lectures go to the Darwin College website.

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