So, George Galloway is going to stand for MP in my local area – Bethnal Green and Bow. He already got his campaigning off to a start a few months back when he attended a(an?) hustings to save the local Bethnal Green fire engine from being moved to boost coverage in a suburb. I agree with him that the fire engine shouldn’t be moved, but boy his he a slimy bastard. The level of his argument was “This is labour making a cut but disguising it as a “move”… its like Tony Blair taking a fiver out of granny’s purse and telling her it’s not a cut”, etc.
Whilst I’m not a big labour supporter, I much preferred Oona King’s argument that Bethnal Green has the highest density of high-rise housing, and that the Fire Brigade Authoritie’s figures didn’t account for the time it took to raise a ladder up a tower block.
Anyway, “Respect Watch” has posted a set of interesting statistics about George based on facts from a website run by some of my friends – theyworkforyou.com.
Oona King spoke in 15 debates in the last year. George Galloway did not speak once.
Oona King asked 90 written questions in the last year. Galloway did not ask a single question in the last year. None.
Oona King has attended 64% of votes in parliament while George Galloway has attended, wait for it, a grand total of three percent.
George Galloway missed 97% of votes in parliament and never managed to ask a question on his current constituents behalf.
To The Real Game [visitor] – just because you do not agree with someone’s views does not mean they are uneducated and gullible. I am reasonably well-educated (Cambridge graduate and Chartered Accountant) and so far successful enough at life to not justify any charge of gullibility, and happily voted for Galloway – both for his anti-war views, his anti-racist views and his socialist policies, none of which seem to me to have been ‘disguised’ in any way.
I am intrigued, however, as to what sort of MP he will be. & a little disappointed to read that his reasons for not standing at the next election are that we would be better with someone of our ‘own origin’. If by this he means Bangladeshi / Muslim (as I believe he does) he should remember that (a) half of his constituency do not have Bangladeshi / Muslim origins and (b) most decent people vote for someone because of their policies, not the colour of their skin or where their (grand)parents were born.
Anyway, here’s hoping he does a good job for the constituency and also continues to be the thorn of conscience in the government’s side.
Now the real game begins my freinds, you asked for a Galloway and u got him. lets see wat he does 4 u guys. well from his track records i dont think he will be doing much. i cant wait for the days wen u Respect suporters will be banging your heads for electing him. i use to hear from others that people of this constituency were very gulable and undeducated well u surely have proven this statement. i cannot even find the tiniest reason why these constitueants voted 4 socialist wokers party candidate disguised under the anti war policy. i just say good luck to those constituents and may Oona never return to rescue u guys from ur own doings.
Hey Alfoiz,
I think Oona King has done a pretty bad job as our MP. She didn’t save our fire engine, which I think will cost her the seat. I reckon there is a fair chance of George getting in (the Independent on Sunday seem to think so too). She also backed the war in Iraq, and considering she represents a massive muslim population – that’s pretty serious. However, she’s just toeing the party line I guess. If you disagree with Tony you can kiss-goodbye any chance of promotion (ie Robin Cook etc).
George Galloway comes across as a “bully boy” to me, and his debating angle is crude. And he doesn’t turn up to the commons to speak (see my orignial post). He seems like a sleezy so-and-so to me and I’m not convinced he doesn’t have skeletons in the cupboard. He’s quite wealthy as I understand it and I’m not too clear where that wealth has come from.
Sure, a vote for George might be a vote against the war in Iraq. And I’m very much against the war in Iraq. But we’re in Iraq now (and we can’t pull out now either, that would be even worse). What’s done is done.
I want to vote for the future, and I don’t particularly agree with other Respect values (it’s all a little _too_ socialist for my liking). If I do vote, it will still be for Lib Dem. But I won’t
hi ben, I couldn’t resist posting a response here. Its fair comment to say this (though I don’t agree):
“George Galloway comes across as a “bully boy” to me, and his debating angle is crude. And he doesn’t turn up to the commons to speak (see my orignial post)…”
But I see him as someone who puts my point point of view across in a robust and engaging way -Boy would I hate him if he was a tool of New Labour or the Tories!
I am guessing, the reason why you think he appears “sleazy…” is because of the unfounded accusations made against him which were proven false in court. He has an illustrious career – Tony Ben would call him a signpost – he will not shift with the political wind – whereas as we can clearly see – Oona King is a weather cock looking out for her own personal interests as you pointed out.
Your Choice of Lib Dem – I think is a better choice then wasting your ballot. They are a principled party though you might disagree with their taxation policies.
Anyway, here is a brief biography of Mr Galloway from the BBC – if it changes your mind…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2041729.stm
Date of birth
16 August 1954
Political profile
George Galloway is one of the most visible backbenchers in the House of Commons, with a strong line in fiery oratory and a skill for enthusiastic denunciation.
However, the idiosyncratic uses to which he puts his skill had led to his being almost as detached from the Labour party as from the opposition parties.
He is a left wing opponent of privatisation and of nuclear weapons, and has previously been arrested while protesting outside naval bases.
However, his major political interests, and the ones which cause the most controversy, are international, where he is a self-styled friend of oppressed countries and opponent of Western imperialism.
He fought a long campaign against sanctions on Iraq, and was an adamant opponent of the Gulf War and the military action in Afghanistan.
In 2002, he caused the first ever suspension of Westminster Hall when he refused to withdraw his allegation that Ben Bradshaw was “a liar”.
Mr Bradshaw had described him as “a mouthpiece to the Iraqi regime over many years”.
He was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 in he wake of his outspoken comments on the Iraq war – comments which Labour chairman Ian McCartney said “incited foreign forces to rise up against British troops”.
The charges brought by Labour against him related to a television interview in which he accused Tony Blair and George Bush of acting “like wolves” in invading Iraq.
Mr Galloway responded to his expulsion by saying: “This was a politically motivated kangaroo court whose verdict had been written in advance in the best tradition of political show trials.”
In the wake of his expulsion he has been the figurehead for the anti-war party contesting the European Parliament elections: Respect – The Unity Coalition (George Galloway).
In June 2004, a year-long inquiry found that an appeal set up by Mr Galloway to help Iraqi children broke rules but that there had been no bad faith.
The Charity Commission started the inquiry into the Mariam Appeal after a complaint that some of the funds had been used to fund Mr Galloway’s travel.
In December 2004, Mr Galloway was awarded £150,000 in libel damages from the Daily Telegraph over articles published in April 2003 claiming he received money from Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
He denied seeking or receiving money from Saddam Hussein’s government saying he had long opposed it.
Contact
gallowayg@parliament.uk
Constituency office: 0141 342 4537
thank you – a little help with the massively difficult task of deciding who in Bethnal Green & Bow to vote for. My thoughts so far:
– green (I care passionately about the environment and climate change)
– lib dem (I like their progressive taxation plans, their oppostion to the war and generally like their liberal (with a small ‘l’) policies)
– labour (to ensure the conservatives, who came second last time, don’t sneak in as everyone else’s votes are split)
– respect (anti-war, anti-racism and xenophobia, general vote for ‘conscience’)
Tempted to go with George, but have never previously subscribed to the ‘protest vote’ approach, after all what’s done is done (re Iraq) and there is a country to be run over the next five years. & how the hell would Respect fund all their proposals if they were ever to get into power? Lowering the retirement age to 60? Re-nationalising a load of privatised utilities? Abolishing VAT? All extremely expensive. They say they would pay for some of it by pulling out of Iraq – but those costs are surely over-and-above the usual annual budget anyway – and by abolishing nuclear weapons – but surely all that decommissioning, while a good thing, would cost money in the short term rather than saving money.
But at the same time my heart wants to vote for them. Are there any opinion polls for the constituency? If all the New Labour protestors are voting Lib Dem I will go with them, and ditto if they are voting Respect. But at the moment I fear our votes could be split all over the place leaving Oona with a large majority.
Did anyone see Galloway after he won his libel action? Flanked by angry young men with blazing eyes shouting ‘Allah akhbar! Allah akhbar! Allah akhbar!’.
Honestly, how can any decent person entertain voting for his Frankensteinian stalinist/pro sharia alliance party??
I am disgusted with the above comments, cummon pple wake up, is the war on iraq the only policy labour made on its government…NO. so for allah’s sake dont treat it as one. Labour has had one of the best government in british polictical history, thats probably why the opositions are so weak. the opositions are not weak cos they do not hav good leaders, or good policy makers..its because they hav no tools to beat the current thriving government. Oona King has made so many visits to muslim countries as an MP trying to establish links between britain and those countries. she has worked so hard for us bethnal green constituents and its time we support her in times where she needs it. This Galoway man, even his wife supports the Iraq war as she is an Iraqi..perhaps the reason why she is devorcing him! please continue your support for labour and Oona King. My allah guide us all.
gosh! I was just making an “accidental” casual response to Ben’s blog (after accidentally engaging in an activitiy I now know as “wardriving”). Now I have ended up networking into some people’s political sensibilities – as we live in a democracy I guess this is not a dubious activity…?
I want to clarify one thing, In my humble opinion Oona King and George Galloway are both generally decent/honourable people – but I can’t help thinking that one cares more for their prospects of ministerial responsibilites than the views of their electorate or the lives of thousands of innocent people. I think politicians should be lead by their conscience – not expediency – and they should also listen to their electorate . That is not to say that an MP should automatically defer to her electorate, but rather should use her “better judgement” in the interest of her electorate. Well – Oona King has failed that test.
By the same token, I think the electorate should vote with their conscience. The anti-Blair vote may well be split – so what?! we could say, at least we have tried? If the tories get in for the next four years – they will only get in “through the back door” because of the anti-war sentiments in this country. That way, whoever is in government will think long and hard before killing women and children. I use the NHS and local services – I can live with a Tory government with reduced services for a few years as long as this lesson is learnt by Labour and all future governments.
May I also suggest that democracies are made imperfect by ill-informed people such as our “disgusted[visitor]”
who says “This Galoway man, even his wife supports the Iraq war as she is an Iraqi..perhaps the reason why she is devorcing him!”
Mr Galloway’s wife is in fact Palestinian and I very much doubt she supported the war. The political culture in the UK is far more civilised than say in a country that gets flooded every now and then – I sense a hint of that culture in that comment.
In regard to: im [Visitor] who says:
“Did anyone see Galloway after he won his libel action? Flanked by angry young men with blazing eyes shouting ‘Allah akhbar! Allah akhbar! Allah akhbar!’.
Honestly, how can any decent person entertain voting for his Frankensteinian stalinist/pro sharia alliance party??”
Well, I am decent, I get angry, I see nothing wrong with saying “Allah Akhbar” which roughly translates to “GOD IS GREAT” and NOT “I am a terrorist and I will kill you haha!”. In this day and age, if you are lost, high on drugs, etc I would thoroughly recommend Islamic values and not the permissive popular culture; The culture we live in allows most people to thrive and live enlightened lives but also bring out the worst in others. Islamic values (taken in the correct dosage) is a force for good in this country – so why equate galloway supporters with overdosed hotheads who say Galloway should not encourage Muslims to vote or participate in this election?
Happy voting!
to all, respect will win, agree or dissagree with george you must vote george respect to stop tony bloody blair from further war and murder, if you believe in peace belive in respect.
“i use to hear from others that people of this constituency were very gulable and undeducated well u surely have proven this statement. i cannot even find the tiniest reason why these constitueants voted 4 socialist wokers party candidate disguised under the anti war policy. i just say good luck to those constituents and may Oona never return to rescue u guys from ur own doings.”
I really do fail to see how ‘The Real Game’ can possible accuse anyone of being ‘gulable’ and uneducated with spelling and grammar like that. I’m actually quite amused.
And as for Disgusted at the top who says “This Galoway man, even his wife supports the Iraq war as she is an Iraqi..perhaps the reason why she is devorcing him!” – I think you’ll find that she is dIvorcing him because of his alleged ‘friendships’ with various other ladies…..
Unsecure wifi networks and other things
hello ben – I came across your site via your network ssid. I live near **** (BEN: I’ve removed the road details for to obtain a slight level of anonimity!) and was testing my new wifi network. I was alarmed by the number of unsecured networks in Bethnal Green. Taking an example from you, I came back straight home to secure my wifi network.
Just thought I’d say hello to a neighbour. I think you should not waste your vote – I know where you are coming from, but at Least Galloway will put Bethnal Green on the Map-Oona King has been a disappointment. Her maiden question (I think) at Prime Minister’s Question Time was something that was on a humanitarian issue – it was delivered passionately with eloquence:
“Is the Prime Minister aware that the recent genocide in Rwanda of 1 million people in three months is possibly the worst the world has seen? It is
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worse than, for example, the deaths of 180 million Africans in the slave trade or 6 million Jews in the second world war for one reason: the United Nations did not exist and was not there watching when those horrific genocides occurred. In the light of that fact, although I speak as someone of African and of Jewish descent, I appeal to anyone of human descent to help to ensure that victims of genocide do not go unhelped. Will the Prime Minister give his assurance that the United Kingdom will be a friend and staunch ally to Rwanda? Will he also push for the IMF and the World bank–as a minimum measure–to reduce Rwanda’s crippling debt burden? If we do not prioritise genocide, our priorities must be wrong.”
It is ironic that Oona King on the Occasion of “weapons of mass destruction” did not support the UN to do their job to stop the massacre of Iraqi Women and children though not described as victims of genocide.
It is also ironic that that she is campaigning on the basis that she will represent “all people in Bethnal Green” and not just Muslims or perhaps another stricken country like Uganda….Iraq?
Wake up Oona – the whole country was against the war – your constituency was against the war – you OUGHT to have been against the war (going by what you had said in the past). You have let us down.
I know Mr Galloway will be focusing on International/socialist/humanitarian issues and spending time abroad rather than focusing on boring, nitty gritty issues. BUT AT LEAST HE WILL BE GIVING VOICE TO THE CONCIENCE OF MOST PEOPLE IN BETHNAL GREEN AND THE COUNTRY AT LARGE. HE WILL MAKE US FEEL PROUD.
I hope i have helped you decide.
ALFOIZ
[…] And to doubly prove I’m not a “loonie leftie”, I’ve countless times mentioned that I live in Bethnal Green – who’s MP George Galloway of the Respect Coalition is perhaps the most left-wing MP in the House of Commons. Not only did I not vote for him either, but I’ve even lambasted him as a “slimy bastard (in my opinion)”. […]
September 2007, the Respect Party elects Abjol Miah as their candidate to replace George Galloway in Bethnal Green and Bow. Miah, a soft spoken, stick fighting champion of Bengali origin is to go head to head with the Labour candidate Rushanara Ali. Miah who is almost unheard of outside his constituency on the scale of George Galloway is fast becoming used to his celebrity status. Miah’s grass root work in the local community, which ranges in co-radio presenter, drugs worker and martial arts trainer, has given him a firm foundation of local community/youth support. Miahs political victories thus far has been his impressive win in the local council election, where he ousted political heavyweight Michael Kith Council Leader along with two other cabinet members.
Rusahanara Ali on other hand an Oxford graduate, who is unknown locally has been chosen by former MP Oona King with whom she held a secretarial job during Kings term as MP. Ali says she disagreed with her former boss in regards to the Iraq war, banning of halal meat and that her main aim is to look into local issues affecting people.
Although both party are of Bengali Muslim origin it seems this borough will again be set on fire in what has been dubbed as the ‘Battle for Bethnal Green and Bow’ as tensions between the two rival parties rise