Category Archives: Respect

George Galloway wants government to “impose sanctions” on Twitter (but he’s still an avid user)

1:40pm Tue March 19th

“Gorgeous” George Galloway went on a bit of an EDM-spree last Thursday, laying down six individual pieces of parliamentary graffiti in a single day. Galloway is a prodigious user of EDMs having been the primary sponsor of 77 of them in just over six months.

But one of George’s less popular Early day motions caught Scrapbook’s eye this morning – especially in light of continued debates around the regulation of the internet.

Early day motion 1190 – currently only backed by two MPs – states that:

“That this House notes that Twitter is now a very widely used mode of social networking; further notes that Twitter is a US-based enterprise whose primary motivation is to maximise its profits; further notes that Twitter is now used for a variety of criminal activities including sending malicious communications; further notes that Twitter refuses to co-operate with the UK authorities in general and the police in particular in trying to detect the source of criminal communications ‘unless it is a matter of life and death’, to be determined by Twitter; believes that this failure to co-operate with the detection of the sources of criminal behaviour is reprehensible; and calls on the Government to impose sanctions on Twitter until it agrees to fully co-operate with the UK authorities and police in the detection of crime.”

Yet despite Galloway’s attempts to have sanctions placed on Twitter – the Bradford MP certainly hasn’t been toning down his use of the network. Despite his concerns, he’s sent well over 100 Tweets and Retweets since placing the EDM on Thursday.

That’s one type of boycott that George seems unwilling to make

Rotherham winter: why Galloway will hit the buffers tomorrow

12:02pm Wed November 28th

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Despite odd’s on Respect being slashed yesterday, there’s one major reason why George Galloway’s party doesn’t stand a chance in tomorrow’s Rotherham by-election — and it isn’t because their campaign office was still locked at 9:30 this morning (above).

Some have correctly observed that George Galloway’s coup in Bradford marked “the beginning of the end of Labour’s ethnic minority bloc vote politics”. But there is one major barrier to the extension of the franchise forty miles down the M1: there is no such minority bloc in Rotherham.

Though it includes those not of voting age, census data for Bradford West clearly shows that the Muslim Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi population which formed the Respect/Galloway base dwarfed the 5,763 majority that Labour by-election campaigners inherited from Marsha Singh. In contrast, just 4,467 people of South Asian origin live in Rotherham according to the last available stats — much smaller than Denis MacShane’s 10,462 lead over the Conservatives.

Don’t believe the hype.

George Galloway ‘contemplates assassination of Labour Peer’

11:58am Tue July 10th

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George Galloway has admitted he considered mowing former Defence Secretary John Reid down with his car.

The Bradford West MP said he had murderous thoughts yesterday evening as he saw Dr Reid cross the road in front of him, which he said was “tempting”:

WHAT a target of opportunity! Dr John Reid just walked RIGHT in front of my car in Whitehall at 7.15. Tempting…..

— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) July 9, 2012

Galloway has in the past described Reid as being “remorseless, unremitting and practical. Just like Stalin”

Scrapbook always assumed he meant that as a compliment.

Ambiguous George: does Galloway know what religion he is?

7:47pm Fri April 27th

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Following on from claims in the latest New Statesman that George Galloway had converted to Islam ten years ago, the maverick Bradford West MP is apparently threatening to sue the magazine.

The controversy over Galloway’s faith stems from the Bradford West by-election, in which leaflets were distributed strongly implying that he was more Muslim than Labour’s candidate Imran Hussain.

In a curiously specific rebuttal statement, in which gorgeous George patronises interviewer Jemima Khan as a “schoolgirl”, he denies he had taken part in a conversion ceremony in Kilburn — but does not deny he is a Muslim:

“The opening paragraph of Jemima Khan’s piece … is totally untrue. Moreover I told her it was fallacious when she put it to me. I have never attended any such ceremony in Kilburn, Karachi or Kathmandu. It is simply and categorically untrue.”

Leaving Galloway watchers barely enough time to microwave their popcorn, the Staggers hit back:

“It is notable that Galloway does not deny being a Muslim convert – and he did not deny it when it was put to him at the time of the interview, which is on tape. Contrary to his press release, nor did he deny that the ceremony took place when it was put to him during the interview. This is also on tape.”

But Sunday Express Whitehall editor and seasoned east end reporter Ted Jeory can recall speeches in which his religion was invoked – but this time it was Catholicism!

“I’m racking my brains on this, but I’m fairly sure George, when he was MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, used to refer to his Catholicism in his speeches.”

Indeed, this audio clip appears to show him identifying himself as Catholic as recently as 2010:

“God knows who is a Muslim” — but does George Galloway?

George Galloway “converted to Islam” more than ten years ago

12:07pm Thu April 26th

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An interview with Jemima Khan in the latest New Statesman claims that George Galloway has converted to Islam:

“George Galloway, MP for Bradford West, is a Muslim. He converted more than ten years ago in a ceremony at a hotel in Kilburn, north-west London, attended by members of the Muslim Association of Great Britain.”

As Scrapbook reported previously, however, the campaign claims that he is a lifetime teetotaller are likely to be contested by his former associates.

Indeed, writing in the Sunday Express the former deputy editor of the East London Advertiser, Ted Jeory, reports claims from Galloway’s political aides in Tower Hamlets that he has consumed alcohol in private — within the last ten years.

“contrary to his “I’m a good Muslim” claim to be a teetotaller, [Galloway's consumption on winning Bradford West] could also have been the glass of wine his aides once told me he occasionally drinks in private)”

We’ll drink to that!

Post-mortem begins on Labour campaign in Bradford West

8:52am Fri March 30th

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Despite the usual by-election “expectation management” yesterday, there was no doubt that Labour had expected to win the Bradford West by-election comfortably.

Indeed, the ease within Labour ranks was epitomised by editor of What’s Next For Labour and would-be party insider Tom Scholes-Fogg, who last night tweeted:

Although Labour candidate Imran Hussain was from the Pakistani Bradford’s majority Kashmiri community, specifically from the city of Mirpur, alienation of influential factions in what should have been his voting base is thought to have played a significant role in his defeat.

On the organisational front, one Pakistani Labour activist with extensive experience of campaigning in similar northern mill town seats told Scrapbook:

“When I went to Oldham East and Saddleworth, you knew there was an election on. In Bradford there was no atmosphere whatsoever. It was just dead.”

And with the Tories standing an Asian candidate in every election since 1997, their ethnic minority voters rejected candidate Jackie Whiteley after anti-immigration leaflets were distributed in white areas – but opted for Galloway instead of Hussain.

Galloway has landed: shops in Bradford are stocking up on cigars as we speak.