Something which shone about Tony Benn, and which younger people noticed, was his interview with Ali G. Now when he was interviewed, nobody knew who Ali G was. He was of course the creation of an intelligent comic to try catch out stuffy old establishment figures, by seeing if they tried to be down with da kidz. In order to catch them out even more, they gave him a name which hinted at "muslim", to see if they dared complain when they were pretty much abused and asked ridiculous questions.

On the whole, those interviewed fared badly. Tony Benn wasn't perfect at all, but he came closest of all to telling "Ali G" to get off, complaining when Ali G referred to women as bitches. In addition he argued his side politely.
Now there was someone Ali G should give "maximum respect" to. You wondered if maybe Benn came closer than the others to realising this was a spoof, but went along just in case it wasn't.

As for Thatcher, Benn was on record as having respect for her as a fellow human, and certainly wouldn't dance around an effigy of her.