There’s only one story today … but George Galloway still finds the time for hypocrisy. Amongst the selection of anti-Thatcher messages selected for re-transmission by the Blackburn Bradford MP is the following:
Sorry George, you were in the middle of re-tweeting something about “murderous dictators”?
He is, indeed, indefatigable in his hypocrisy.
“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
George Galloway is hitting the headlines again after storming out of a debate with an Oxford student after he realised his opponent was an Israeli national:
Israel: simple, No recognition No normalisation. Just Boycott, divestment, sanctions. Like Apartheid SA. No Apartheid in Israel-Palestine.
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) February 21, 2013
If the above picture is anything to go by, Galloway is partial to, errr, bending his own rules when it comes to Israelis. The publicity-hungry Bradford MP is arm-in-arm with notorious spoon interferer Uri Geller, who was wounded in action as an IDF paratrooper during the Six-Days War — the conflict in which Israel conquered the West Bank.
What a schmuck.
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.
While imploring the voters of South Yorkshire to “respect yourself” and “respect Rotherham”, could it be that George Galloway’s party have a lack of respect for parking regulations? An eagle-eyed reader snapped their mobile ad van receiving some perhaps unwelcome attention from attendants.
Currently trousering around £80,000 per year for presenting on Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV on top of his MP’s salary, however, we’re sure their party leader could comfortably absorb any fine.
Ofcom rules will almost certainly foil Nadine Dorries’ plan to use I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here as a platform to promote her views on abortion.
The Mid-Bedfordshire MP had claimed that the show will be a better forum than parliament to air her advocacy of reducing abortion time limits from 24 to 20 weeks:
“I’m doing the show because 16 million people watch it. Rather than MPs talking to other MPs about issues in Parliament, I think MPs should be going to where people go.
”I’m not going in there to upset people, but I have opinions. There are certain causes that I’m interested in, one of which is ’20 Weeks’.
”I will be talking about this issue around the campfire. I hope there will be some lively, heated debates.”
But having been elected in 2005, Dorries is apparently unfamiliar with the Communications Act 2003, which sets out legal requirements for impartiality that will almost certainly scupper Dorries’ desire for fireside pro-life propaganda. As Ofcom’s states programmes must adhere to ‘due impartiality’:
Impartiality itself means not favouring one side over another. “Due” means adequate or appropriate to the subject and nature of the programme.
Included in the impartiality requirements are:
“matters of political or industrial controversy and matters relating to current public policy”
which Ofcom defines as:
“political or industrial issues on which politicians, industry and/or the media are in debate.”
Dorries has fallen into the same trap as George Galloway, who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and gave synonymous reasons for entering on the show:
“I believe that politicians should use every opportunity to communicate with people, I’m a great believer in the democratic process. Big Brother is watched by millions.”
Although the official line up is yet to be announced, Dorries has already flown to Australia – after only realising three weeks ago she actually had to go to a real jungle.
Scrapbook nevertheless looks forward to the ‘Bush Tucker Trial’ which, for those unfamiliar with the format, involves contestants eating fare such as witchetty grubs, live beachworms and, errr, kangaroo testicles.
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.
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?
