Tag Archives: george galloway

Ambiguous George: does Galloway know what religion he is?

7:47pm Fri April 27th

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!

Scrapbook’s top five: our most popular posts this week

7:00am Sat April 7th

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Our Top Five most clicked stories of the last seven days were:

The weirdest story of the week was also the most popular.

George Galloway ‘never drank alcohol’ claims to be disputed

4:38pm Fri March 30th

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A number of people will be coming forward to deny one of the claims that helped secure George Galloway his by-election victory, Scrapbook understands.

In a letter distributed by activists outside mosques in Bradford quotes red-cheeked George Galloway as claiming to be a lifetime teetotaller:

“I, George Galloway, do not drink alcohol and never have.”

Strangely, this doesn’t seem to be recollection of a number of people who were around Galloway more than two decades ago. As a Labour MP, he was also a member of the Groucho Club private members club in Soho.

The by-election letter implies Labour’s Muslim candidate had drunk alcohol:

“Ask yourself if you believe the other candidate in this election can say that truthfully.”

Is this merely projection from Gorgeous George?

Bradford West Tory vote collapses after anti-immigrant literature

11:39am Fri March 30th

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With all of the morning after analysis focused on Labour, little attention seems to be paid to the Conservatives suffering the biggest vote slump – 22.8%. Senior Tory figures have tried to brush this off as the effect of being in government, but that ignores the anti-immigration campaign of their candidate, shown in the above leaflet distributed to prominently white areas of the constituency.

Presumably the Tories thought that they could stoke racial tensions without Bradford’s ethnic minorities noticing.

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.

George Galloway set to win seat in Scottish Parliament

1:24pm Thu May 5th

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As the #1 candidate on Respect’s list for the Glasgow region, George Galloway is viewed by senior organisers from the main parties as “more likely than not” to secure a seat in Holyrood. Having pledged to back Iain Gray’s apparently doomed Scottish operation, a win would see him voting with Labour for the first time since he was booted out of the party in 2003.

His campaign finds him in characteristically modest form:

“My name is George Galloway and I’m standing for the Scottish Parliament. Frankly, I could only improve it.”

If his Twitter feed is anything to go by, however, perhaps be would benefit from being kinder to voters:

Salmond vs Galloway will be popcorn-worthy.

George Galloway: some massacres are more equal than others

2:35pm Mon January 31st

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Hypocrite George Galloway did the media rounds this weekend, telling anyone who would listen how bad Hosni Mubarak’s Egyptian regime is. This would be received with no small irony elsewhere in the Middle East and South Asia given his fondness for other dictators.

Galloway previously defended Pervez Musharaf’s 1999 military coup in Pakistan, saying “Only the armed forces can really be counted on to hold such a country together.” But the Egyptian military, it seems, are a different matter and yesterday he told Sky News’ Andrew Wilson:

The last thing the US needs is one of its client states opening fire in a Tienanmen Square-style massacre

Perhaps we should remind ourselves what Galloway say to Saddam Hussein six years after he killed up to 5,000 Kurdish civilians in a poison gas attack on Halabja and just three years after slaughtering 80,000-230,000 Kurds and Shi’ites in the wake of the Gulf War, many of whom were dumped in mass graves:

Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability, and I want you to know that we are with you, hatta al-nasr, hatta al-nasr, hatta al-Quds [until victory, until victory, until Jerusalem].

To Galloway, all massacres are equal but some are more equal than others.

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