 My view about the European Union has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners, but that I am in favour of democracy ...I think they're building an empire there, they want us to be a part of their empire and I don't want that.In 1990, Benn was diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukaemia and given three or four years to live; at this time, he kept the news of his leukaemia from everyone except his immediate family.