George Galloway and Rochdale

A victory for political passion

I’ll admit it. I’ve always admired George Galloway. Clearly, I don’t buy his nonsense Socialist babble. But I admire him for sticking to his ideological convictions. And he’s probably one of the finest political orators of his generation. His appearance in front of a US Senate hearing in 2005 was spectacular - largely because of Galloway’s word-perfect destruction of the basis for the US-led war in Iraq (a war supported and stoked by the UK Labour government led by Tony Blair). Indeed, if I were to teach political oratory, I’d use this as a case study.

“I gave my political life’s blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis…I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq.”  

It’s Galloway’s public opposition to wars, funded and stoked by America (often under the guise of NATO), that makes Galloway one of the United Kingdom’s most consistent and tireless human rights motivated campaigners.  

And, more recently, he’s been one of the most vocal (and able) defenders of the people of Gaza - including innocent children - who have suffered terribly as a result of Israel’s bombardment of that tiny strip of land packed with people. Most of those people had no involvement whatsoever in anything that happened on October 7 on the Israel/Gaza border - one of the most heavily defended borders on earth (except on October 7, 2023).  

Now I appreciate that George’s favouring of a Socialist command type of government has made him say some very silly things - including advocating for a Chinese-style militaristic style of lockdown (in 2020). His denouncing of Israel under Netanyahu has made many on the so-called ‘right’ of British politics very uncomfortable - as well as the leadership of the Labour Party.  

But, remember this. Opposition to the war in Iraq crossed left/right lines. In February 2003 millions of people across the world protested against the war in Iraq. According to the BBC around a million people joined the protest March in London - protesting against the war and the Labour government’s involvement in it.  It’s becoming increasingly clear that the majority of people in the United Kingdom oppose the bombardment of Gaza and would support an immediate ceasefire. 

The attempts by the Conservative, Labour and Reform parties to ensure that Galloway didn’t win the Rochdale by-election proved to be useless. The Reform Party ran a repackaged Labour Party candidate. The Labour Party fired its candidate mid-campaign by using the (well-used) anti-semitic trope argument.  The Conservatives just gave up.  Meanwhile Galloway romped home - with an independent candidate as the runner-up.  

Clearly this was a by-election - notorious for protest votes. And Rochdale has a big Muslim voter base. But the vote reflected the utter contempt voters hold - in Rochdale and beyond - for a shambolic government and opposition.  Galloway was an eminently qualified candidate offering an antidote to the pathetic, lily-livered posturing of the SPAD-led uniparty establishment. Voters, I’d suggest, couldn’t care less that he’s a whacko Socialist - he’s decent. He doesn’t condone the slaughter of innocents simply because NATO and its serfs say so. That’s why he was elected with a landslide. 

And I, for one, look forward to watching and hearing Sunak and Starmer and the rest trying to claw back any shred of relevance that they thought they once had. This is a victory for political passion - because, frankly it’s in short supply these days.