Labour veterans Tony Benn and Lord Healey have given a moving personal insight into how they have each dealt with becoming widowers.

Speaking to Paddy O'Connell on BBC Radio 2 they gave frank and moving accounts of their loss, discussing a subject that is often ignored.

Both men had very close relationships with their wives, seeing them as equals despite both men being prominent public figures.

Tony Benn's wife, Caroline, died 10 years ago from cancer.

His initial feeling was one of relief that she had escaped the suffering caused by the illness, but this was soon replaced by a sense of loss.

Lord Healey was married to his wife Edna for over 60 years and says he still has not recovered from her death last year.