George Galloway: Difference between revisions

George Galloway
Galloway at a Stop the War event in February 2007
Leader of the Respect Party
In office June 2013 – 18 August 2016
Deputy	Dawud Islam
Preceded by	Arshad Ali
Succeeded by	Party dissolved
Member of Parliament for Bradford West
In office 29 March 2012 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Marsha Singh
Succeeded by	Naz Shah
Majority	10,140 (30.9%)
Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow
In office 6 May 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Oona King
Succeeded by	Rushanara Ali
Majority	823 (1.9%)
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin Glasgow Hillhead (1987–1997)
In office 12 June 1987 – 11 April 2005
Preceded by	Roy Jenkins
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	7,260 (27.1%)
Personal details
Born	(1954-08-16) 16 August 1954 (age 69) Independent (2016–present)
Other political affiliations	Respect (2004–2016) Labour (1967–2003)
Spouses	Elaine Fyffe ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 1999)​ Amineh Abu-Zayyad ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2009)​ Rima Husseini ​ ​ (m. 2005; div. 2011)​ [1] Putri Gayatri Pertiwi ​ ​ (m. 2012)​
Domestic partner	Amineh Abu-Zayyad (1994–2000)
Children	2 daughters and 3 sons
Residence(s)	London, England
Website	www.georgegalloway.com

George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a

In 2004, he became a member of Respect–The Unity Coalition, later known as the Respect Party (eventually becoming its leader by late 2013),[4] and, following the general election the next year, served for one parliamentary term as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow.^[5]

He returned to Westminster at the

A long-standing associate of Jeremy Corbyn, Galloway has supported the Labour leader since Corbyn's election in September 2015.^[18] The Respect Party "voluntarily deregistered" itself at the Electoral Commission in August 2016.^[19]

Early life and career

Background and education

Galloway was born on 16 August 1954 in

He grew up in Charleston, Dundee and attended Charleston Primary and then Harris Academy, a non-denominational school, playing for the school football team as well as for West End United U12s, Lochee Boys Club U16s and St Columbus U18s.^[25] According to Galloway, he grew a moustache at 15, and refused to shave it off when his headmaster objected.^[26] He decided, at the age of 18, never to drink alcohol; the reason was originally derived from comments by his father,^[27] and he has described alcohol as having a "very deleterious effect on people".^[28][29]

Labour Party organiser

Galloway joined the Labour Party Young Socialists at 13 years old (although he said he was 15) and was still a teenager when he became secretary of the Dundee Labour Party.^[3][30] He recalled in 2007: "As a teenager, I fell in love with the example of Che Guevara," the Argentinian revolutionary.^[31] Galloway wrote in the same year that he still admires Guevara.^[32]

Galloway became Vice-Chairman of the Labour Party in the City of Dundee and a member of the

Galloway attempted in 1983 to stand for the safe Labour seat of Rhondda after the Welsh Transport and General Workers' Union and the National Union of Miners had both nominated him to succeed Alec Jones, who had died.^[43] He hoped to be selected in the newly created seat of Dunfermline East where no incumbent was standing.^[44] Galloway failed to be selected in either seat, with Rhondda selecting Allan Rogers and Dunfermline East selecting future Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Standing as a candidate for a place on the Labour Party National Executive Committee in 1986, in a large field of 18 candidates, Galloway finished in sixteenth place.^[45]

War on Want

From November 1983 to 1987, Galloway was the General Secretary of War on Want, a British charity campaigning against poverty worldwide. In this post he travelled widely, and wrote eye-witness accounts of the famine in Eritrea in 1985 which were published in The Sunday Times and The Spectator.^[46] His deputy at the charity, Simon Stocker, recalled: "If you went into a fight with George, you knew you would never walk out with a win."^[47]

On 28 October 1986, the Daily Mirror, in a front-page story by Alastair Campbell, claimed Galloway had spent £20,000 in expenses and had been "enjoying a life of luxury."^[48][49] An internal investigation,^[48] and later, an independent auditor, both cleared him of the accusation of any misuse of funds,^[50] although he did repay £1,720 in contested expenses.^[50] The official history of War on Want comments about Galloway that "even though the problems were not all of his own making, his way of dealing with them heightened tensions".^[50]

Political career (1987–2005)

Member of Parliament for a Glasgow seat

In the

In a 2002 Guardian interview, Galloway said he had supported the Soviet Union and asserted that its end was "the biggest catastrophe of my life".^[15] Galloway told Robert Chalmers of The Independent on Sunday in June 2012: "I am not a pacifist. I am a revolutionary. I am a Socialist who doesn't like Capitalism and who likes Imperialism less. I am a revolutionary and I support the armed struggle where there is no alternative."^[52]

At a press gathering for War on Want in September 1987, when Galloway had stood down as General Secretary to the organisation, a journalist asked him about his personal arrangements during the previous year's War on Want conference on the Greek island of

Galloway gained re-selection when challenged by Trish Godman (wife of fellow MP Norman Godman) in June 1989, but failed to get a majority of the electoral college on the first ballot. This was the worst result for any sitting Labour MP who was reselected, but in the final vote, Galloway gained 62% in total. In his acceptance speech, Galloway assured his party there would be a "summer of peace and reconciliation", but this did not happen. Many members of the party who had supported Godman reportedly refused to work for Galloway in the next election, including Johann Lamont, many years later leader of the Scottish Labour Party.^[57] The following August, 13 of the 26 members of the Constituency Party's Executive Committee resigned.^[58] Lamont was one of those who resigned. According to her, Galloway "has done nothing to build bridges with the members of the executive [committee of the constituency labour party] who opposed his selection." She told a journalist from The Guardian: "The quarrel we have is all about accountability, and democracy ... working in harmony, rather than any personal matters."^[59]

The Labour Party leadership election in 1992 saw Galloway voting for the eventual winners, John Smith for Leader and Margaret Beckett as Deputy Leader. In 1994, after Smith died, Galloway declined to cast a vote in the leadership election (one of only three MPs to do so). In a debate with the Leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond, Galloway responded to one of Salmond's jibes against the Labour Party by declaring "I don't give a fuck what Tony Blair thinks".^[60]

Although facing a challenge for the Labour nomination as the candidate for

Writing for The Observer in April 2003, David Aaronovitch speculated that Galloway changed his opinion of Saddam Hussein under "the belief that my enemy's enemy is my friend. Or, in the context of the modern world, any anti-American will do. When Iraq stopped being a friend of the West it became a friend of George's."^[11][12]

Meeting with Saddam Hussein in 1994

In January 1994, Galloway faced some of his strongest criticism on his return from a Middle-Eastern visit during which he had met Saddam Hussein. At his meeting with the Iraqi leader, he reported the support given to Saddam by the people of the Gaza Strip which he had just visited: "I can honestly tell you that there was not a single person to whom I told I was coming to Iraq and hoping to meet with yourself who did not wish me to convey their heartfelt, fraternal greetings and support."^[64] He ended his speech with the statement "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability."^[14] Galloway has asserted that he was saluting the Iraqi people rather than Saddam Hussein in the speech,^[15] which was translated for the Iraqi leader.^[33]

As news of the incident reached Britain, Labour leader John Smith, in a statement, said: "I deeply deplore the foolish statement made in Iraq by Mr George Galloway. In no way did he speak for the Labour Party and I wholly reject his comments."^[65] Shortly after his return, Galloway was given a "severe reprimand" by the Labour Chief Whip, Derek Foster, for his unauthorised trip to Iraq. The MP apologised for his conduct and undertook to follow future instruction from the whips.^[66]

For his contact with Saddam, Galloway was dubbed the "MP for

A further Charity Commission Report published on 7 June 2007 found that the Appeal had received funds from Fawaz Zureikat that originated from the Oil For Food programme, and concluded that:

Although Mr Galloway, Mr Halford and Mr Al-Mukhtar have confirmed that they were unaware of the source of Mr Zureikat’s donations, the Commission has concluded that the charity trustees should have made further enquiries when accepting such large single and cumulative donations to satisfy themselves as to their origin and legitimacy. The Commission's conclusion is that the charity trustees did not properly discharge their duty of care as trustees to the Appeal in respect of these donations ... The Commission is also concerned, having considered the totality of the evidence before it, that Mr Galloway may also have known of the connection between the Appeal and the Programme.^[75]

Galloway responded: "I've always disputed the Commission's retrospective view that a campaign to win a change in national and international policy – a political campaign – was, in fact, a charity".^[76]

Iraq and Saddam Hussein

In a House of Commons debate on 6 March 2002, Foreign Office Minister Ben Bradshaw said Galloway was "not just an apologist, but a mouthpiece, for the Iraqi regime over many years."^[77] Galloway called the Minister a liar and refused to withdraw on the grounds that Bradshaw's claim was "a clear imputation of dishonour", and the sitting was suspended due to the dispute.^[78] Bradshaw later withdrew his allegation, and Galloway apologised for using unparliamentary language.^[79] In an article by Ewen MacAskill published by The Guardian in March 2000 about a visit by Galloway to Iraq and the Middle East, the politician describes himself as a supporter of the Iraqi people and the Ba'ath Party, but not Saddam Hussein himself.^[80]

In August 2002, Galloway returned to Iraq and met Saddam Hussein for a second and final time. According to Galloway, the intention of the trip was to persuade Saddam to re-admit Hans Blix, and the United Nations weapons inspectors into the country.^[81] His interview with Saddam was published in The Mail on Sunday. It was on this occasion that Galloway was offered Quality Street confectionery by Saddam.^[15][82]

Giving evidence in his

In 2006 a video surfaced showing Galloway greeting Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son, with the title of "Excellency" at Uday's palace in 1999. Galloway is heard saying he will be with Uday "until the end".^[84][85] By his own account in I'm Not the Only One, Galloway advised members of Saddam Hussein's government about the ways to deal with a potential American invasion:

The only war that can be fought against a superpower is a war of movement. I brought Tariq Aziz all the writings of Che Guevara and Mao Tse Tung on the arts of revolutionary war and he had them translated into Arabic. Fight a war of movement, take the uniforms off, swim among the Iraqi people and whatever their views on the regime, they will undoubtedly provide deep aquifers of support for a patriotic resistance.^[86]

The Iraq war and Labour Party expulsion

Galloway became the Vice-President of the

Just over a month later, Galloway said in a 28 March 2003 interview with Abu Dhabi TV that Tony Blair and George W. Bush had "lied to the British Air Force and Navy, when they said the battle of Iraq would be very quick and easy. They attacked Iraq like wolves," and added that "the best thing British troops can do is to refuse to obey illegal orders".^[89] This incitement for "British troops to defy orders" was later among the formal reasons for his expulsion from the Labour Party.^[2][90][91] He called the Labour Government "Tony Blair's lie machine."^[92]

On 18 April 2003, The Sun published an interview with Tony Blair who said: "His comments were disgraceful and wrong. The National Executive will deal with it."^[93] At this time, Labour MP Tam Dalyell commented in Galloway's defence: "I think he is a deeply serious, committed politician and a man of great sincerity about the causes he takes up."^[13] On 6 May 2003, David Triesman, then General Secretary of the Labour Party, suspended Galloway from holding office in the party^[94] pending a hearing on charges that he had violated the party's constitution by "bringing the Labour Party into disrepute through behaviour that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Party."^[95] Speaking on BBC Radio, Galloway said he stood by every word of the Abu Dhabi interview.^[95]

The National Constitutional Committee, responsible for internal disciplinary matters, held a hearing on 22 October 2003, to consider the charges, taking evidence from Galloway himself, from other party witnesses, viewing media interviews, and hearing character testimony from former Cabinet Minister Tony Benn,^[96] among others. The following day, the committee decided in favour of four of the five charges accusing Galloway of "bringing the party into disrepute," and expelled Galloway from the Labour Party.^[2] A claim that, in a speech, he had congratulated a successful anti-war candidate from the Socialist Alliance in Preston was rejected.^[2]

According to

Galloway defended Iraqi insurgents targeting western forces as "martyrs" during August 2005 in appearances on Middle Eastern television channels,^[100][101] Iraqis who were with the allies security forces he called "collaborators" and said it was "normal" for them to be the targets of suicide bombers.^[100] Galloway said: "These poor Iraqis – ragged people, with their sandals, with their Kalashnikovs, with the lightest and most basic of weapons – are writing the names of their cities and towns in the stars, with 145 military operations every day, which has made the country ungovernable. We don't know who they are, we don't know their names, we never saw their faces, they don't put up photographs of their martyrs, we don't know the names of their leaders". Galloway was challenged by the BBC but denied making the "martyrs" comment.^[102][103]

Galloway continued to praise Tariq Aziz. In April 2005, on

Galloway has maintained his opinion of the Iraq war. In March 2013 he wrote that "a huge right-wing conspiracy was mounted 10 years ago to manufacture a case to wage aggressive war" against Iraq.[110]

Oil for Food

Daily Telegraph libel case

On 22 April 2003, The Daily Telegraph published news articles and comment describing documents found by its reporter David Blair in the ruins of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. The documents purported to be records of meetings between Galloway and Iraqi intelligence agents, and they stated that he had received £375,000 per year from the proceeds of the Oil-for-Food Programme. Galloway completely denied the claims, and pointed to the nature of the discovery within an unguarded, bombed-out building as being questionable. He instigated legal action against the newspaper, which was heard in the High Court on 14 November 2004.^[111]

On 2 December, Justice David Eady ruled that the story had been "seriously defamatory", and that The Daily Telegraph was "obliged to compensate Mr Galloway ... and to make an award for the purposes of restoring his reputation." Galloway was awarded damages of £150,000 plus, after a failed appeal in 2006,^[112] legal costs of about £2 million.^[113]

The libel case was regarded by both sides as an important test of the Reynolds qualified-privilege defence. The Daily Telegraph did not attempt to claim justification (where the defendant seeks to prove the truth of the defamatory reports): "It has never been the Telegraph's case to suggest that the allegations contained in these documents are true".^[114] The newspaper argued that it acted responsibly as the allegations it reported were of sufficient public interest to outweigh the damage caused to Galloway's reputation.^[115] The trial judge did not accept this defence, noting that comments such as Galloway being guilty of "treason", "in Saddam's pay", and being "Saddam's little helper" caused him [the judge] to conclude that "the newspaper was not neutral but both embraced the allegations with relish and fervour and went on to embellish them";^[113] additionally, the judge ruled, Galloway had not been given a fair or reasonable opportunity to make inquiries or meaningful comment upon the documents before they were published.^[111]

The issue of whether or not the documents were genuine was likewise not at issue at the trial. Oliver Thorne, a forensic expert who had been earlier hired by Galloway's lawyers, later stated "In my opinion the evidence found fully supports that the vast majority of the submitted documents are authentic".^[116] He added "It should be noted that I am unable to comment on the veracity of the information within the disputed Telegraph documents, whether or not they are authentic."^{[citation needed]}

Other libel claims

The

The Christian Science Monitor settled the claim, paying him an undisclosed sum in damages, on 19 March 2004.[118]^[119] It emerged that these documents had first been offered to The Daily Telegraph, but they had rejected them. The documents' origin remains unknown.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2004, a further set of allegations were made in Al-Mada,^[120] a newspaper in Iraq. The newspaper claimed to have found documents in the Iraqi national oil corporation showing that Galloway received (through an intermediary) some of the profits arising from the sale of 19.5 million barrels (3,100,000 m³) of oil. Galloway acknowledged that money had been paid into the Mariam Appeal by Iraqi businessmen who had profited from the UN-run programme, but denied benefiting personally, and maintained that, in any case, there was nothing illicit about this:

It is hard to see what is dishonourable, let alone "illicit", about Arab nationalist businessmen donating some of the profits they made from legitimate UN-controlled business with Iraq to anti-sanctions campaigns, as opposed to, say, keeping their profits for themselves.

US Senate

Allegations

In May 2005, a US Senate committee report

Galloway countered the charges by accusing Coleman and other pro-war politicians of covering up the "theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth... on your watch" that had occurred under a post-invasion Coalition Provisional Authority, committed by "Halliburton and other American corporations... with the connivance of your own government."^[122][123]

Senate hearing (17 May 2005)

On 17 May 2005, the committee held a hearing concerning specific allegations (of which Galloway was one part) relating to improprieties surrounding the Oil-for-Food programme. Attending Galloway's oral testimony and enquiring of him were two of the thirteen committee members: the chair (Coleman) and the ranking Democrat (Carl Levin).^[124]

On arriving in the US, he told Reuters, "I have no expectation of justice from a group of Christian fundamentalist and Zionist activists."^[125] Galloway described Coleman as a "pro-war, neocon hawk and the lickspittle of George W. Bush," who, he said, sought vengeance against anyone who did not support the war in Iraq.^[126]

In his testimony, Galloway made the following statements in response to the allegations against him:

Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader — and neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one — and neither has anyone on my behalf. Now I know that standards have slipped in the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here today but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever having written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt to contact me whatsoever, and you call that justice.^[127]

He questioned the reliability of evidence given by former Iraqi Vice-President

The British television presenter Anne Robinson said Galloway "quite frankly put the pride back in British politics" when introducing him for a prime time talk show.^[128][129] An article in The Times on 18 May described him as having "the gift of the Glasgow gab, a love of the stage and an inexhaustible fund of self-belief".^[130]

Senate report (October 2005)

A report by the then-majority Republican Party staff of the United States Senate Committee on Investigations published in October 2005 asserted that Galloway had "knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath".^[131][132] The report exhibits bank statements it claims show that £85,000 of proceeds from the Oil-for-Food Programme had been paid to Galloway's then-wife Amineh Abu-Zayyad.^[133]

It also asserts that Galloway (and the Mariam Appeal) received 8 allocations of oil from the Iraqi government amounting to 23 million barrels from 1999 to 2003. The Mariam Appeal was also found to have improperly received $446,000 via the Oil-for-Food programme.^[132] Tariq Aziz was said to have told the investigators that oil had been allocated in the names of 2 of Galloway's representatives, Buhan Al-Chalabi and Fawaz Zureikat.^[134] Aziz had told the investigators: "These oil allocations were for the benefit of George Galloway and for Mariam's Appeal. The proceeds from the sale benefited the cause and Mr Galloway."^[132]

Galloway reiterated his denial of the charges and challenged the US Senate committee to charge him with perjury. CNN's website reported him as saying: "I'm demanding to be prosecuted. I'm begging to be prosecuted for perjury."^[134] He claimed Coleman's motive was revenge over the embarrassment of his appearance before the committee in May.^{[135][136][137]}

Galloway also said claims Aziz had told investigators he had benefited financially, via Zureikat, from the Oil for Food programme had been rejected by Aziz, via his French lawyers.^[138] A contemporary UN-supported report written by Paul Volcker, the former American Federal Reserve chairman, asserted that 11 million barrels of oil had been reserved in Galloway's name. For Volcker's report, Aziz was interviewed, but his account on this occasion differed from the one he had given the senate, a change they considered unconvincing.^[138]

Before and after the 2005 general election

Foundation of Respect

After he had been expelled from the Labour Party, Galloway speculated at the end of October 2003: "If I were to resign the constituency and there was a by-election, I can’t guarantee that I would win, but I would guarantee that Tony Blair’s candidate would surely lose".

Galloway wrote in an article for The Guardian at the end of October 2003 that he would soon be part of a coalition consisting of the "red, green, anti-war, Muslim and other social constituencies radicalised by the war."[143] In January 2004, it emerged that Galloway would be working with the Socialist Workers Party in England and Wales, and others, under the name Respect – The Unity Coalition, generally referred to simply as Respect.^[144] In the opinion of Nick Cohen of The Observer it was an "alliance... between the Trotskyist far left and the Islamic far right."^[145] Or, as Christopher Hitchens, expressed it, "The servants of the one god finally meet the votaries of the one-party state".^[12]

After the

The ensuing electoral campaign in the seat proved to be a difficult one with heated exchanges between Galloway,

Galloway was asked at a hustings early in the campaign why he was standing against one of only 2 black female MPs to which he replied that King had "voted to kill a lot of women in the last few years. Many of them had much darker skins than her".[149]^[150][151] Claiming to be the ghost of Old Labour, Galloway told Sunday Times contributor A. A. Gill that "we’re here to haunt new Labour".^[152] Bethnal Green and Bow is "where Labour was founded. We’re giving birth to the Labour party all over again".^[152]

Galloway said at a hustings event that the Labour government had been pursuing a "war on Muslims" while King said her stance against Saddam Hussein had been "principled".

During the BBC's election night coverage, Jeremy Paxman asked Galloway about whether he was happy to have removed one of the few black women in Parliament, He replied: "I don't believe that people get elected because of the colour of their skin. I believe that people get elected because of their record and because of their policies".^[160]

Oona King later told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she found Paxman's line of questioning inappropriate. Galloway "shouldn't be barred from running against me because I'm a black woman. ... I was not defined, or did not wish to be defined, by either my ethnicity or religious background".^[161]

It emerged in a

Respect split in the autumn of 2007, with the Socialist Workers' Party and Galloway's wing of Respect blaming each other for what he described as a "car crash on the left."^[163]

Celebrity Big Brother

In January 2006, Galloway appeared on the

Galloway faced a claim at the time from Hilary Armstrong, then Labour's Chief Whip, that he should "respect his constituents, not his ego".^[167] Ron McKay, his spokesman and friend, said of the imaginary milk incident: "I rather wish he hadn't been given that particularly silly task". It had been assumed, McKay said, that Galloway's comments about politics would not be cut.^[167] Just after his eviction, Galloway told presenter Davina McCall he was positive about having taken part, although when asked if he was "glad" to have participated, he said: "Not after I've seen those press cuttings."^[168]

Galloway told The Independent on Sunday in February 2009 that there were "three reasons" for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother. "One was to raise a substantial amount of money for the refugees in Gaza. Then to use my fee to employ extra staff in my constituency office, which I have done. And to reach a wider audience in Britain with the approach we take to things" of which "all three goals were achieved".^[169] Galloway was more specific in a column for The Independent newspaper in November 2012 writing that his "antics on Big Brother" had "raised tens of thousands of pounds for the" Interpal charity and paid for an "extra caseworker in my constituency".^[166]

Other parliamentary and political developments (2003–11)

Parliamentary participation statistics (2003–09)

As his connection with the Labour Party was ending, Galloway's participation in Parliamentary activity fell to minimal levels. After speaking in a debate on Iraq on 25 March 2003, Galloway did not intervene in any way in Parliamentary debates or ask any oral questions for the remainder of the Parliament and his participation in House of Commons

In September 2009, he still had one of the lowest voting participation records in parliament at 8.4% as a total of 93 votes out of a possible 1,113 divisions.[172] "In the British Parliament you cannot register an abstention", Galloway told Christopher Sylvester in 2012. "The only two propositions generally on offer are the Prime Minister’s motion and the Leader of the Opposition’s amendment. In the last Parliament I seldom wished to vote for either, but that does not mean I was not in Parliament. In fact, I was there more than almost anyone else because my constituency was right next door".^[173]

Suspension from the House of Commons

On 17 July 2007, following a four-year inquiry, the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges published its sixth report. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, in an addendum to the report, concluded that there was no evidence that Galloway gained any personal benefit from either the former Iraqi administration, or from the Oil-for-Food Programme, but admitted that some documents had been unavailable to him.

I have not found evidence that Mr Galloway has, directly and personally, unlawfully received moneys from the former Iraqi regime. I have been given evidence by Dr Al-Chalabi of a payment by him of $120,000 to Mr Galloway's former wife, Dr Abu-Zayyad, which derived from a commission payment Dr Al-Chalabi received under the programme. As I do not have access to the bank accounts in question, I do not know whether Mr Galloway benefited in any way from this payment. Nor do I know whether Mr Galloway benefited from a payment of $150,000 to Dr Abu-Zayyad which the US Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations found to have been made by Mr Fawaz Zureikat out of oil contract commission.^[174]

But the Committee concluded, in the main body of the report:

we agree with the Commissioner that there is strong circumstantial evidence that the Oil for Food Programme was used by the Iraqi government, with Mr Galloway's connivance, to fund the campaigning activities of the Mariam Appeal.^[175]

It found that Galloway's use of parliamentary resources to support his work on the Mariam Appeal "went beyond what was reasonable."

Mr Galloway's conduct ... and his calling into question of the Commissioner's and our own integrity have in our view damaged the reputation of the House. In accordance with precedent, we recommend that he apologise to the House, and be suspended from its service for a period of eighteen actual sitting days.^[176]

Galloway's suspension was not intended to be immediate, and he was given the opportunity to defend himself in front of the committee members in the House of Commons on 23 July 2007. During the debate, Galloway repeatedly called into question the motives of the members of the Select Committee, in particular claiming that some of them were members of a political organisation named "Indict" and were persecuting him for speaking out against the Iraq War. Speaker Michael Martin warned Galloway that his accusations were not relevant to the matter at hand, but he rejected the warning and responded by saying that Martin would have to order him out of the house if he had any issue with the accusations. Martin therefore named Galloway, leading to the attending members voting to trigger his suspension from Parliament that day rather than wait until after the summer recess as had been recommended.^[177]

International activities

Israel and Palestine (2005–11)

In an interview with the American radio host

During an interview for Al Jazeera television on 17 November 2005 he said his election as MP earlier in the year was "despite all the efforts made by the British government, the Zionist movement and the newspapers and news media which are controlled by Zionism".[179] In Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England, Anthony Julius cites this interview as one example of Galloway pandering to the antisemitic prejudices of his audience. According to Julius, Galloway merely refers to the "right wing press" in the British media, whereas he has the habit of adding the word "Zionist" when speaking on television in the Arab world.^[180] A few years later, in a May 2009 speech given at a meeting in Westminster, Galloway said: "I do not agree with the argument that there is a shadowy Jewish influence. Israel is doing what America wants it to do and to argue otherwise is to go down the dark tunnel of racist antisemitism".^[181]

At a 22 July 2006 demonstration (and later in a

Of Bashar al-Assad, and the country he leads, he said during a visit to the University of Damascus in November 2005: "For me he is the last Arab ruler, and Syria is the last Arab country. It is the fortress of the remaining dignity of the Arabs,"^[336] and a "breath of fresh air,"^[337]

Galloway again praised the government of Assad in a leaked 2010 email to Assad's advisor

Galloway said in a July 2011 interview on Hezbollah's Al-Manar station: "Bashar Assad wants reform and change, to realize the aspirations of his people". In the early stages of the Civil War (when Assad was reported as "perpetrating massacres of his own people"), opponents were "trying to pressure Syria and President Assad because of the good things that he did, such as supporting Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and rejecting to surrender to Israel".[340]

Syrian civil war (2011–present)

A month later, in an August 2011 piece for the Al Jazeera website, Galloway wrote he "was never close to the Syrian regime" and acknowledged its "authoritarian character, its police state mentality", and the "rampant" corruption "much of it concentrated around his [Assad's] own family".^[341] The description of "the mass uprising" by some "as the actions of "terrorists" and "gunmen" is a gross distortion". He concluded: "Unless the Syrian regime can conclude an urgent agreement to proceed to elections, a free media, legal political opposition and an end to what has now become a massacre, the state is going to be invaded or is going to collapse under the weight of the bloodshed".^[341] "Few statements could be more insulting to a Syrian citizen", wrote Odai Alzoubi for openDemocracy of the article which was published "after the attacks on Hama, Dier-Alzour, Deraa and Latakia".^[342]

In November 2012, on the Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen, Galloway said: "I am not with the Syrian regime. I am against their enemies because their enemies are worse than them".^[343] In the same appearance he called for jihad in other Arab countries: "It is just strange to me that they are ready to kill thousands, maybe tens of thousands, in Syria but they will not lift a finger for jihad in other Arab countries which are, and have always been, on the path of treason towards the Palestinian people." Galloway's spokesman, Ron McKay, when asked by a reporter from The Daily Telegraph, said that jihad could mean anything "from peaceful protest to armed insurrection."^[343] "I fully support the Syrian revolution", Galloway told Christopher Sylvester around the same time. "I want to see the end of all the dictatorships in the Middle East and I hope that it can be achieved peacefully. But if peaceful change is not possible, then violent change is inevitable. I wholly support the Syrian people’s demands for democratic government. I just don’t support armed intervention in Syria, any more than I supported it in any other country in the region".^[173]

Following the Ghouta chemical attack on 21 August 2013, Galloway speculated on his Press TV show that the responsibility for the atrocity lay with al-Qaeda and the rebels in Syria who had been provided with the weapons by Israel.^[344][345]

During his speech in the House of Commons debate about the crisis in Syria on 29 August 2013, Galloway was asked about this broadcast by the Conservative MP Matthew Offord.^[346][347] In response, he asserted that he had "said no such thing", and was accused of lying.^[348] He questioned Syrian responsibility for the Ghouta attack, arguing "not that they are bad enough to do it, everyone knows they're bad enough to do it but is he mad enough to do it" pointing to a UN chemical weapons inspectors in Damascus on the same day.^[349]

In a House of Commons debate on 26 September 2014 he opposed military action by western powers against the

Galloway said that: "Russia's objective [in Syria] is to defeat the terrorists. The United States and Britain's main objective, I would argue, is to get rid of President Assad".[351] In his view, the United States and its allies will only consider the anti-ISIL campaign in Syria a success if Bashar al-Assad leaves power in the process.^[351] He told Prospect magazine in February 2016: "I support the decision of the Russian government to come to the aid of the government in Syria because whatever faults it [the Syrian government] may have, whatever crimes it has committed, they are considerably fewer than the crimes committed by IS or would be committed by IS were they to come to power".^[352]

Record on LGBT issues (1994–2013)

In 1994, Galloway voted in support of the equalisation of the age of consent for homosexuality (which was then 21 years) with that for heterosexuality at 16 years.^[353] He also voted against a reduction of the homosexual age of consent to 18.^[354] He voted in favour of permitting unmarried and gay couples to adopt children.^[355]

Critics have claimed that his involvement in the leadership of Respect – which made no explicit mention of gay rights in its 2005 election manifesto – raised questions about his commitment to those issues.^{[356][357][358]} However, Respect's 2005 conference, in which Galloway took part, resolved that explicit defence of equal rights and calls for the end to all discrimination against LGBT people would be made in all of its manifestos and principal election materials.^[359] (In 2008 Galloway made comments about the case of the gay Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi and his executed lover. For this, see Support for the Iranian government above.) In February 2013, he voted in favour of same-sex marriage.^[360]

Grassroots Out

On 13 February 2016, Galloway interviewed the

However, Galloway's presence at the rally prompted some of those present to leave.[364] The extent of the walkout was disputed. According to Kate Hoey, only about 20 people left and the event was by then running late.^[363] Other reports suggested that, from an audience of around 1,500, at least 100 people left. Mainly present at the event were Conservative Party and UKIP supporters.^[365]

Television presenter

In August 2009, editions of Galloway's The Real Deal and Comment programme for Press TV, a London-based news channel controlled by the government of Iran, was criticised by the British telecommunications regulator Ofcom for breaching their broadcasting code as impartiality rules were broken.^[366] Among other comments, Galloway had accused Israel of "murdering United Nations employees" and had stated that "collectively punishing people is a Nazi tactic".^[367]

After Press TV lost its Ofcom licence in 2012, according to Galloway, the Iranian broadcaster owed him £40,000, leading to his company Miranda Media entering compulsory liquidation in 2013 because of unpaid tax. Reportedly, the owed payment amounts to £100,000, although Galloway disputed this in February 2016.^[368] Miranda Media, in which income from Galloway's media work was deposited, was established in September 2007 under a month before a law came into force allowing directors to receive loans from their own companies, a facility Galloway used on multiple occasions.^[369]

Shortly after its foundation in June 2012, Galloway became a presenter with the

In an overview of the broadcasting organisations Galloway works for, Tom Rogan in the National Review in April 2014 described him as being "a Western puppet for tyranny’s propagandists".^[375] In the register of members' financial interests published at the end of January 2015, Galloway disclosed that he had earned £293,450 from his television broadcasting in the previous year and had received almost £70,000 in travelling expenses and hotel stays.^[376]

Personal life

Marriages

Galloway has been married four times. From 1979 to 1999, he was married to Elaine Fyffe, with whom he has a daughter, Lucy (born 1983), who herself has four children.^[373] The couple separated in 1987, and divorced in 1999.^[54]

In 1994, he married his second wife Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad, a biologist of Palestinian origin, in an Islamic ceremony;^[1] a civil ceremony followed around 2000, after his divorce from Fyffe in 1999.^[54] Abu-Zayyad was granted a divorce from Galloway in February 2009, after an estrangement of several years, on the grounds of "unreasonable behaviour"; her petition was not contested.^[377][169] In early May 2005, The Sunday Times reported her claims to have received phone calls from women claiming to have had "romantic links" with him. In an attempt at mitigation, Galloway told her an unidentified intelligence service was involved.^[378]

Galloway married Rima Husseini, his former researcher, in a Muslim ceremony in 2005.^[1] With his third wife, who is originally from Lebanon, Galloway had two sons: Zein and Faris.^[54][379]

On 31 March 2012, he married his fourth wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, in an Islamic ceremony in Amsterdam, two days after the Bradford West by-election, and four months after his third wife gave birth to their second child.^[380] followed by ceremonies in Sumatra and, in September 2012, at the House of Commons.^[381] Gayatri (born c. 1984) is an anthropologist, born in the Netherlands of Indonesian descent, who works as a consultant for a Dutch research firm.^[382] Their son, Toren Mustaqim, was born in summer 2014.^[300] The couple's second child (and Galloway's fifth), daughter Orla Dhien, was born in April 2017.^[383]

An article in The Guardian at the time of Galloway's fourth marriage said there was a lack of clarity over his wedding ceremonies and a reputedly unaccounted for divorce from his third wife.^[54][384] Galloway rejected the claim of Rima Husseini, in April 2012, who said the couple were still married under Islamic law.^[385]

Religion

He stated at a March 2012 rally "We stand for justice and

During the evening of 29 August 2014, while posing for photographs with members of the public in Golborne Road, Notting Hill, Galloway was assaulted by Neil Masterson, a convert to Judaism.^[390] Masterson, who was wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) when arrested, shouted references to the Holocaust and referred to Galloway as "a Hitler."^{[390][391][392]}

Galloway suffered a bruised rib in addition to severe bruising on his head and face, and was initially thought to have a broken jaw.^{[391][393][394][395]} He was admitted to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, where he stayed overnight and was discharged early the following morning.^[390][396] The conservative commentator Peter Oborne, writing for The Daily Telegraph of 1 September, found the lack of comment about the incident, or empathy for Galloway, from the political mainstream "very disturbing." Although Galloway is a "very controversial figure" and "many people" do "disagree very strongly with his views", in Oborne's opinion that "is irrelevant" because the assault Galloway suffered is "an attack on British democracy".^[397]

Masterson, a 39-year-old man, was charged with religiously aggravated assault.^[398][399] At a hearing held on 1 September at Hammersmith magistrates court, the defendant gave a not guilty plea.^[400] According to the prosecutor: "He said he carried out the attack because he felt the victim was [an] enemy of Judaism" and that the defendant had told the police "I didn't want him to think I'm scared, Galloway is Anti-semitic and I am Jewish."^[401] Masterson was remanded in custody.^[402] At Isleworth Crown Court on 15 September Masterson changed his plea, admitting the assault but still denying that it was religiously aggravated.^[403] On 11 December 2014, Masterson was sentenced to 16 months in prison for the attack.^[392] He was released from prison on 9 September 2015, but soon returned to jail for a month after breaking a restraining order forbidding him from contacting Galloway. Masterson was also fined for harassment.^[404]

See also

• The Killing$ of Tony Blair – George Galloway's documentary film released July 2016
• The Mother of All Talk Shows – phone-in programme presented by Galloway on talkSPORT between 2006 and 2010 and Talkradio from 2016

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

Further reading

Author

• I'm Not the Only One (2004)
• Mr Galloway Goes to Washington (2005)
• ISBN 1-84072-688-1
• Respect: Documents of the Crisis (2008) with Salma Yaqoob and Alan Thornett
• Open Season: The Neil Lennon Story (2011) Miranda Media

Biography

• David Morley Gorgeous George: The Life and Adventures of George Galloway, Politico's Publishing, 2007
  ISBN 978-1842751855

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Galloway.

Wikiquote has quotations related to George Galloway.

• Official website
• George Galloway Contributor page, The Guardian website
• George Galloway Contributor page, The Independent website
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Galloway
• George Galloway at
  IMDb

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Roy Jenkins	1997	Constituency abolished
New constituency	2005	Constituency abolished
Preceded by Oona King	2010	Succeeded by Rushanara Ali
Preceded by Marsha Singh	2015	Succeeded by Naz Shah
Party political offices
Preceded by Arshad Ali	Leader of the Respect Party 2013–2016	Party dissolved