George Galloway

George Galloway       (politician)
Returning to the Labour fold?
Born	1954-08-16 Dundee, Scotland
Nationality	British
Children	1 daughter and 3 sons
Spouse	Putri Gayatri Pertiwi
Founder of	Workers Party of Britain
Member of	American Herald Tribune
Interest of	"Philip Cross"
Party	Labour (1967–2003), Respect (2004–2016)
Member of Parliament for Bradford West In office 29 March 2012 - 30 March 2015  Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow In office 6 May 2005 - 12 April 2010  Member of Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin In office 2 May 1997 - 11 April 2005  Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead In office 12 June 1987 - 4 April 1997 Preceded by Clement Freud, Mike Hancock, Patrick Jenkin, Roy Jenkins, Norman St John-Stevas, Enoch Powell, Nick Raynsford, Geoffrey Rippon  Leader of the Respect Party In office June 2013 - 18 August 2016

George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a Scottish politician, broadcaster, and writer. Between the UK General Elections in 1987–2015, with a gap between 2010–12, he represented four constituencies as a Member of Parliament, elected as a candidate for the Labour Party and later the Respect Party. After becoming the youngest ever Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party in 1981, Galloway became General Secretary of the London-based charity War on Want in 1983, remaining in the post until he was elected as MP for Glasgow Hillhead (later Glasgow Kelvin) at the 1987 General Election.

Early in his career, George Galloway was an opponent of Saddam Hussein, but he has been accused by David Aaronovitch and Christopher Hitchens of changing his mind about the Iraqi leader when it became Western policy not to support him. Galloway visited Iraq in 1994 and delivered a speech to Saddam Hussein, which ended with the statement:

"Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability."

Galloway testified to the United States Senate in 2005 over alleged illicit payments from the United Nations' Oil for Food Programme.

George Galloway supports the Palestinian side in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, opposes Zionism, and was involved in the Viva Palestina aid convoys.

Returning to the Labour fold?

The Good George, Bad Jess and Ugly Tom

In October 2003, George Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party, having been found guilty by the party's National Executive Committee of four of the five charges of bringing the party into disrepute, including having called on Arabs to fight British troops. He was the only MP to be expelled from the Labour Party for his statements concerning the conflict.

In December 2017, the Morning Star reported that Andrew Murray, chief of staff of Unite and former chairman of Stop the War Coalition, had called for the “vicious, illegal and disgraceful decision to expel George Galloway from the Labour Party” to be overturned. Murray praised Galloway for his role in “the leadership of that movement” which organised the largest march in Britain’s history against the Iraq war on 15 February 2003.

Following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Leader of the Labour Party in 2015, Galloway has expressed a desire to return to the party and a change.org petition calling for his reinstatement has received over 5,000 signatures.

The Huffington Post revealed that "senior sources close to Jeremy Corbyn" had said that George Galloway could be allowed to re-join Labour - and even stand as an MP at the next General Election, if enough local members back him to return and the party’s ruling NEC approves the idea. However, the online journal considered that Galloway’s remarks about women and rape (when he declared that Julian Assange had been guilty of nothing more than “bad sexual etiquette”) might block any return.

Deputy Labour leader and vice president of "Trade Union Friends of Israel", Tom Watson, and the "sociopath feminist" Jess Phillips, chair of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party (WPLP), who famously advocated stabbing Jeremy Corbyn "in the front", are expected to object strongly to Galloway's reinstatement in the Labour Party.

Respect Party

In 2004, George Galloway became a member of "Respect–The Unity Coalition", later known as the Respect Party (eventually becoming the party leader by late-2013). Having decided not to seek re-election for the Glasgow Kelvin constituency prior to the 2005 General Election, he then stood for the London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow, defeating the sitting Labour MP, Oona King, and served for one parliamentary term.

He returned to the House of Commons at the Bradford West by-election in 2012, but lost his seat at the 2015 General Election. Galloway announced that he would stand in the election for the 2016 London mayoral election, an intention he confirmed with a formal announcement, via his Twitter account, on 28 May. but lost to the Labour's Sadiq Khan finishing in seventh place with 37,007 votes (1.4%). The Respect Party "voluntarily deregistered" itself at the Electoral Commission in August 2016.

Manchester Gorton constituency

On 21 March 2017, George Galloway confirmed he would stand as an Independent candidate in the 2017 Manchester Gorton by-election, saying the “all-Asian shortlist” selected by Labour was the latest in a long line of insults delivered by mainstream parties to local communities:

"I have decided to enter the race to succeed my friend for thirty years, Sir Gerald Kaufman, as MP for Manchester Gorton. The “All-Asian short-list” hand-picked by Keith Vaz is just not good enough for the people of Gorton one of the most deprived constituencies in Britain. The short-listing, which excluded many better candidates, is the latest in a long line of insults delivered by mainstream parties to local communities. I will run as an Independent candidate and will write a regular by-election diary for Westmonster. This is my initial election statement.

"I have a long connection with the Manchester area – two of my children live here – and with the Gorton constituency in particular. The late Sir Gerald Kaufman was a friend of mine for over 30 years. Our friendship began before I was an MP, continued throughout my near 30 years with him in Parliament and afterwards. His appearance on my television show was his last big interview and will stand the test of time. Sir Gerald was a big figure in the House of Commons and was known far beyond it from Hollywood to Palestine and Kashmir. When he spoke people listened. I have decided to seek election for Manchester Gorton in the forthcoming by-election precisely because of my admiration for its late MP and I hope to persuade voters of every background that I am the best person to try to fill his shoes."

The Manchester Gorton by-election was cancelled when Theresa May called a snap UK/2017 General Election. On 8 June 2017 Labour's Afzal Khan was elected as MP for Manchester Gorton with a 31,730 majority over the Conservative Shaden Jaradat. George Galloway (Independent) came third with 2,615 votes.

Television

In November 2013, George Galloway with his wife Gayatri began presenting the "Sputnik" programme for the Russia Today (RT) network. He is a regular contributor to RT's other programming.

On 21 January 2016, BBC Newsnight presenter Evan Davis interviewed George Galloway on the results and implications of the report into the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko which had just been published by the Litvinenko Inquiry chairman Sir Robert Owen. Galloway did not accept the report's conclusions that Russia's president Vladimir Putin was "probably" responsible, calling the Inquiry "another Whitehall farce" – the Hutton Inquiry all over again:

"We've been through Iraq and the murder of Dr David Kelly, the evidence for which is locked up for 70 years. I was at Yasser Arafat's bedside in France when he died of Polonium-210 poisoning."

Radio

On 5 September 2009, in a radio interview conducted by telephone, George Galloway MP asked Frank Duggan, president of the US group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, Inc (VPAF103, Inc) about the credibility of the Lockerbie trial witness Tony Gauci. Duggan stated he believed Gauci to be "an honourable man just trying to do the right thing" despite his evidence being called into question by the SCCRC report. In which case, Galloway asked:

"Why was Gauci paid several million US dollars for his evidence?"

Duggan retorted: "No he wasn’t, who said that?"

George Galloway asserted it was a matter of public record that Gauci was paid, adding that Duggan seemed "not that familiar with what Gauci said" and "not very well versed on the evidence."

Frank Duggan emphasised that eight Judges had found Abdelbaset al-Megrahi guilty in a court of law (three at the 2000-2001 trial, five at the 2002 appeal). "Now you can choose to believe Robert Black, Dr Jim Swire and all of these other 'cranks' or you can believe the Judges," demonstrating the firm belief Duggan has in Megrahi’s guilt, based on his "in-depth" knowledge of the testimony, and any deviation from that official version is the work of 'cranks'.

One clear difference that shows here is the US relatives' consensus that Megrahi is guilty but - especially the VPAF103, Inc president - are largely unaware of the facts of the evidence and testimony, compared to those who have bothered to look at the evidence, witness testimony, court proceedings and independent research who are convinced of a miscarriage of justice. These 'cranks' include the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, Dr Jim Swire, Robert Black QC, Hans Köchler (UN Observer), Edwin Bollier (MEBO), John Ashton, Patrick Haseldine and many, many more.

George Galloway's short interview centered on Tony Gauci’s evidence, which Duggan called "reliable" and "natural," while admitting he didn't know what the man had actually said. The high point was Duggan loudly and repeatedly denying the $2 million reward for Gauci as a rumour with no substance. Frank Duggan then cut short the interview by hanging up on George Galloway.

Suing and being sued

On 27 January 2016, George Galloway was granted leave to sue Google over a "hate speech" broadcast on YouTube in 2014 by Willie Frazer, a loyalist campaigner in Belfast, who suggested the former Respect MP supported "terrorism". In June 2016, Aisha Ali-Khan, a former aide to George Galloway, accepted undisclosed damages from the Respect Party leader over claims that she conspired to run a dirty tricks campaign against him. Her solicitor Mark Lewis told Mr Justice Warby in London's High Court that Ms Ali-Khan had not been feeding disinformation or deceit to national newspapers or acting as a police agent.

Publications

• I'm Not the Only One (2004)
• Mr Galloway Goes to Washington (2005)
• Fidel Castro Handbook (2006), MQ Publications. ISBN 1-84072-688-1
• Respect: Documents of the Crisis (2008) with Salma Yaqoob and Alan Thornett
• Open Season: The Neil Lennon Story (2011) Miranda Media

 

Documents by George Galloway

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:Venezuela critics are just Blairites having a kick at Jeremy Corbyn	Interview	7 August 2017	Venezuela Brazil Jeremy Corbyn Hugo Chávez Mike Pence Nicolás Maduro Abby Martin National Constituent Assembly Michael Prysner	For nineteen years the United States government and its secret agents have been trying to overthrow the Venezuela political process. Why might that be? Well, there are many reasons but the biggest among them has the smallest name: OIL.
Document:‘No slither of evidence’ against Russia over Skripal attack, George Galloway tells RT	Video	28 March 2018	Theresa May Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Skripal Affair	George Galloway concludes: "The OPCW, which is currently examining samples of the nerve agent used against the Skripals, will presumably be lent upon to obfuscate the outcome. No one will ever know the truth.”

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
International Festival of Whistleblowing Dissent and Accountability	8 May 2021	8 May 2021	Internet	Whistleblowing event held in 2021.

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:A New Left Wing Party in the UK?	blog post	18 September 2024	Craig Murray	Initially any new party needs to be led by Jeremy to establish itself. George should be Deputy Leader. Neither man would wish to serve for an extended period. I would like to see Andrew Feinstein eventually lead, not least because he most definitely would not want to do it.
Document:Batley and Spen by-election: Palestine becomes potential dealbreaker	Article	18 June 2021	Alex MacDonald	According to Coral, Galloway is currently on 50/1 odds to win, compared to 2/1 for Leadbeater and 2/5 for Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson. William Hill has the Conservatives on 1/3, Labour at 5/2 and the WPGB at 33/1.
Document:Ellwood vs Ellwood	Article	9 March 2023	John Ellwood	The media profile of former minister Lieutenant Colonel The Right Honourable Tobias Ellwood has increased as a result of COVID-19. A recent interview of his on Sky News regarding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised a few eyebrows.
Document:I Stand in Blackburn	blog post	16 April 2024	Craig Murray	I am going to need help – leafleting, canvassing, manning offices and the many myriad tasks of an election campaign. I am buoyed by the solid start we have in support across all communities in Blackburn. We are going to give Starmer a roasting, we are going to take on the zionist monopoly of power, and it is going to be great fun!
Document:Labour has ignored its voters – it is now paying the price	Article	24 June 2021	Paddy Hannam	George Galloway speaks to Spiked Online about the problems faced by the Labour Party, and his campaign in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election
Document:Wikipedia & the Spooks – The Remake	blog post	22 May 2018	Ludwig De Braeckeleer	In a video interview with George Galloway, journalist Neil Clark explains that "SlimVirgin" is back and teaming up with "Philip Cross". That is subtle or what?

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.