Galloway blasts Blair over Iraq
George Galloway, a radical left-winger, who attacked Tony Blair and George W. Bush as "wolves" over the Iraq war, stormed to victory in a Muslim-dominated district on Friday in Britain's election. Galloway, 50, a flamboyant Scot expelled from Blair's Labour party for his stance, used his victory speech to launch a withering attack on the prime minister who on Thursday became the first Labour party leader to win a third term. "All the people you killed, all the lies you told, have come back to haunt you," he said. "The best thing the Labour party could do is sack you tomorrow morning," he added to cheers from the audience. Ridiculed during the campaign for being a friend of Saddam Hussein's, Galloway had previously visited the former Iraqi leader and was once caught on video praising his strength and courage. Galloway defeated Labour candidate Oona King in Bethnal Green and Bow in east London, which is dominated by Muslims of Bangladeshi origin, after one of the most heated battles of the election. Galloway Back as Thorn in Blair's Side By Chris Moncrieff, PA Fri 6 May 2005 4:41am (UK) Gorgeous George Galloway, debonair, swashbuckling and a political warrior, has been a venomous thorn in the side of all the Labour leaders he has served under. And his decision to fight Bethnal Green and Bow on an anti-Iraq war manifesto for his Respect Party filled Labour activists with dismay. They knew his brilliant oratory and persuasive manner would endanger this Labour-held constituency which has thousands of Muslim voters. The sitting pro-war Labour MP, Oona King, claimed Galloway was unlikely to win, but admitted he could cream off enough Labour votes to let the Conservatives in. In the event, she under-estimated his impact in an often-acrimonious contest. Galloways contacts with Saddam Hussein, which earned him the nickname the honourable member for Baghdad Central, plus his bull-in-a-china-shop approach to every issue he pursues were a constant source of embarrassment and vexation for the Labour Party. Ultimately, after years of infighting, feuding and backbiting, the Party could take no more. After publicly accusing Tony Blair and George Bush of acting like wolves in invading Iraq, Galloway was expelled from the party. Typically, he responded robustly to his expulsion by saying it was done by a kangaroo court, whose verdict had been written in advance in the best tradition of political show trials. Galloway, who has a penchant for Cuban cigars and describes himself as being on the anti-imperialist left, wasted no time after his expulsion in announcing that he would be working with the Socialist Alliance and others under the name Respect Unity Coalition. Galloway was born on August 16 1954 in, to use his own words, an attic in a slum tenement in the Irish quarter of Dundee which is known as Tipperary. In 1977 he was appointed a Labour Party organiser and soon became known for his firebrand speeches. At the age of 26 he became chairman of the Scottish Labour Party, one of the youngest in history. He acquired a reputation whether justified or not for vanity, and a fondness for expensive clothes. He subsequently became general secretary of War on Want, which ultimately became insolvent. Galloway won Glasgow Hillhead ousting the hated Roy Jenkins in 1987, but faced an almost immediate scandal. He was asked about a conference in Mykonos in Greece and replied: I travelled and spent lots of time with people in Greece, many of whom were women, some of whom were known carnally to me. I actually had sexual intercourse with some of the people in Greece. That put him on all the front pages and the executive committee of his local party passed a vote of no confidence in him in February 1988. He only narrowly survived to win reselection the following year. Nothing is ever serene with George Galloway. In 1998 he founded the Mariam Appeal to campaign against sanctions on Iraq. It was named after a child, Mariam Hamza, flown to Britain to be treated for leukaemia. The fund was subject to scrutiny in 2003, but the Charities Commission rejected allegations that funds had been misused. In a Commons Westminster Hall debate on Iraq in 2002, he called Foreign Office Minister Ben Bradshaw a liar after Mr Bradshaw had accused him of being a mouthpiece for the Iraqi regime. The sitting was suspended but Bradshaw later withdrew his accusation and Galloway apologised. Earlier, in 1994, Galloway caused outrage when he was filmed telling Saddam: Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. He claimed that the praise was intended for the Iraqi people collectively. What he said sent a shiver down the spine of Labour: If I were to resign the constituency and there was a by-election, I cant guarantee that I would win, but I would guarantee that Tony Blairs candidate would surely lose. To the partys intense relief, he did not carry out this threat. But he has fought Bethnal Green and Bow and won. Latest News: http://news.scotsman.com/lates-t.cfm The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink-.com.au/southnews/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BalkanNews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
