Latest news with #GeorgeGalloway
Spectator
3 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Nigel Farage and George Galloway share a common problem
A more gracious person would refrain from saying, 'I told you so', but I'm not a gracious person. So, as George Galloway announces his backing for another Scottish independence referendum, allow me to say – nay, crow – I told you so. Galloway, leader of the Workers party, says he and his party 'support the right of the Scots to self-determination' and that 'the time for another referendum is close'. He adds: 'Speaking personally, I can no longer support the British state as presently constituted.' If you're familiar with politics north of the border, you might be wondering if this is the same George Galloway who travelled Scotland in 2014 on his Just Say Naw tour, urging an anti-independence vote in that year's referendum. It is indeed the man who said: 'It sickens me that the country of my birth is threatened by such obsolescent dogma. Flags and borders do not matter a jot.' Galloway hasn't stopped being a Unionist; he never was one It is also the man who was the face (though not the leader) of All for Unity, which rocked up on the scene ahead of the 2021 Holyrood elections and declared itself the anti-independence alliance that would unite the pro-Union parties. This was news to the pro-Union parties and they responded with the political equivalent of 'new fone, who dis?' All for Unity more than earned the disregard it received. It was essentially a Twitter account doing a bad impersonation of a political party, but what it lacked in electoral strategy it made up for in digital noisemaking. Its social media outriders took a particular dislike to me, which is shocking because I'm lovely. All I'd done was repeatedly point out in The Spectator that they were a hopeless shower of political halfwits. Some people can be very sensitive. I didn't just argue that All for Unity risked splitting the anti-independence vote, I pointed out that it wasn't all that anti-independence. For one, its tactical voting guide endorsed a Labour MSP who had called on Boris Johnson to hand powers over referendums to Holyrood. For another, its lead candidate on the South of Scotland list was George Galloway. Just a few years earlier, he had said it would be a 'democratic monstrosity' if Westminster refused Holyrood another referendum. A few years before that, he had explained why he wasn't joining the official No campaign in the Scottish referendum: 'because it's a Unionist campaign, because it flies the Union Jack. I hate the Union Jack.' Galloway hasn't stopped being a Unionist; he never was one. Galloway has gone from opposing independence in 2014, to asserting Scotland's right to indyref2 in 2017, to campaigning against indyref2 in 2021, to reverting to support for indyref2 in 2025. He's pivoted more times than Mikhail Baryshnikov. And here's where I get to gloat. Total vindication: unlocked. This is one of the paradoxes of populism. Voters will often say, 'At least you know where you stand with him', when the him in question routinely adopts stances and ditches them again without any intervening search of the soul. 'Every politician does that,' you might protest. 'My point exactly,' I would reply. Populists claim politicians are all the same, then set about proving it. This unreliability is a hallmark not only of leftist populism but of its right-wing counterpart. Reform is an obvious example. Is Nigel Farage's party left or right, authoritarian or libertarian, interventionist or market-driven? Is it pro- or anti-economic migration, for or against multiculturalism, all-in or sceptical on devolution? The answer is that it holds all of these positions, switching out one for another as expediency (or the leader's whims) demands. Populism is very useful if you aim to disrupt the status quo but its lack of ideological or intellectual moorings leaves it vulnerable to mainstream capture. When voters become anxious about political turmoil, they can turn to the reassuring and the familiar, and populists have no option but to follow them. If disruption is all you aim for, populism is all you require, but if you want to replace the established order with a new one, you also need a philosophy that is held sincerely, fiercely and with constancy. Reform has no such philosophy and is too fragile a coalition of conflicting interests and incoherent instincts to acquire one between now and the next election. As such, the party can only be reactive, loudly opposing everything Labour does and reminding the Tories of everything they failed to do. Farage need only point to the parlous state of Britain to dramatise the ill effects of Labour and Tory governance. That might be enough to win a general election but it is not a strategy for implementing the kind of transformation (political, cultural, institutional) that national revival demands. Reform gives voters an opportunity to chuck a spanner in the gears but offers no prospect of new machinery. Nigel Farage, like George Galloway, is a populist and populism is all you'll ever get from him. Trust me: I told you so before.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Pro-Gaza mayoral candidate charged with money laundering
A lawyer who ran in the 2024 general election as a pro-Palestinian independent candidate has been charged with money laundering. Akhmed Yakoob was arrested following an investigation by the National Crime Agency. The 37-year-old stood as an independent candidate at both the West Midlands mayoral election and the general election last year. He will appear at Westminster magistrates' court on June 17 alongside accountant Nabeel Afzal, 38, with each facing three criminal charges. Mr Yakoob, of Perry Barr, and Mr Azfal, of Edgbaston, both in Birmingham, are accused of money laundering, encouraging money laundering and contravening a requirement to apply customer due diligence measures when establishing a business relationship. The offences are alleged to have been committed between Feb 18 2020 and Jan 8 2021. Mr Yakoob unsuccessfully stood in Shabana Mahmood's Birmingham Ladywood constituency in the last general election on a pro-Gaza, anti-Labour platform, where he was endorsed by George Galloway. He came in second to the Justice Secretary, winning 12,137 votes to her 15,558, and came third in the West Midlands mayoral election with 69,621 votes. He also represented two brothers who were involved in an incident involving police officers at Manchester airport in July last year. Mr Yakoob, who has been described as 'the TikTok lawyer', has thousands of followers on the social media platform.
Russia Today
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Zelensky should ‘grasp' opportunity offered by Putin – George Galloway (VIDEO)
Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky should seize the opportunity to restart direct negotiations offered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Kiev has 'a losing hand' in all areas, the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, George Galloway, has said. In a televised address early on Sunday, Putin offered Kiev the chance to 'resume the negotiations they interrupted in 2022… without any preconditions,' suggesting that talks could be held on Thursday in Istanbul. Speaking to RT on Monday, Galloway said 'it's a pity that his European friends haven't told President Zelensky, as [US President] Donald Trump has told him, that this is an opportunity that simply must be grasped.' According to the former British MP, 'the alternatives are really quite ghastly… for everyone concerned.' Galloway added that Zelensky would be better off ignoring the 'train wreck crew that retreated from Kiev in that now famous train journey at the weekend,' referring to the visit to the Ukrainian capital by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. 'He should not listen to the likes of Starmer and Macron' as 'they don't represent anything practical,' Galloway insisted. He argued that none of the European NATO member states making up the so-called 'coalition of the willing' have the military and economic might to be of any significance. Galloway added that to Russia, the fundamental question in any potential peace talks would be whether an 'enduring agreement… can be reached' with the current 'illegitimate' Ukrainian leader. Zelensky's presidential term expired last May, although he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law. WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Former MP George Galloway appears in Moscow for Putin's Victory Day celebrations days after collecting award names after Hamas fighter in Tehran
The leader of the hard-left Workers Party of Britain made an appearance in Moscow as Russia 's Vladimir Putin celebrated Victory Day with a huge military parade. George Galloway - who previously served as MP for Glasgow Hillhead, Glasgow Kelvin and then Bethnal Green and Bow - travelled to Russia this week to attend Putin's pageant through the city's Red Square on Friday. Taking to X to share snaps of himself in Moscow, Galloway called the Victory Day Celebrations 'moving, emotional, inspiring, humbling.' Pictures posted by the politician show him and his fourth wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi - who is 30 years his junior - posing for the camera on Red Square. At the event, which was attended by more than 20 world leaders, the Russian dictator showed off his tanks, missiles and troops in an impressive display. One of the Russian leader's most high-profile guests was China 's President Xi Jingping, who sat next to Putin during the procession. Galloway's visit to Russia on Friday comes after he travelled to Tehran this week to collect an award in honour of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last year in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital. He was given the Martyr Ismail Haniyeh award at a media festival held in Tehran in recognition of his 'outspoken defence of Palestine.' Having previously praised the assassinated Hamas leader as a 'martyr,' Galloway said in a speech said he was 'honoured' to receive the award, and also bragged about having Haniyeh's passport in his possession. 'I actually hold in my safe the passport of the because when we arrived with one of our convoys to break the siege on Gaza [in 2009], he had promised me a Palestinian passport but they had run out of Palestinian passports. So he gave me his own personal passport and it is one of my most treasured possessions,' the British politician boasted. He went on to thank Iran for 'their steadfastness in support for the Palestinian people.' 'The truth is when Palestine is finally free, Iran will be able to take its place in the panoply of heroes who made it possible.' The timing of Galloway's visit to Iran came as tensions between the UK and Tehran heightened last week following the arrest of four Iranian nationals over an alleged plot to attack Israel's London embassy. Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country's most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow's efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year. World War II is a rare event in the nation's divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia's position as a global power. The parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche. The timing of Galloway's visit to Russia comes as Sir Keir Starmer, along with the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, travelled to Kyiv on Saturday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of unity after Putin's Victory Day parade. Britain has been highly critical of Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
George Galloway visits Moscow after picking up Hamas award
George Galloway has appeared in Moscow for Vladimir Putin's Victory Day celebrations, days after flying to Iran to collect an award named after a dead Hamas leader. The leader of the hard-Left Workers Party of Britain travelled to Tehran this week to collect an award in honour of Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated political leader of Hamas, whom the former MP praised as a 'martyr'. He boasted during the visit that his most 'treasured' possession was Haniyeh's passport. Mr Galloway, 70, then travelled to Russia, where he witnessed Putin's military show of strength, which he said was 'moving, emotional, inspiring, humbling'. He was given the special Martyr Ismail Haniyeh award at a media festival in the Iranian capital. Haniyeh was the political leader of the terror group at the time of the October 7 attacks on Israel. The International Criminal Court (ICC) intended to apply for a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the proceedings were dropped following Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran, which has been blamed on Israel. Elected as the head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017, Haniyeh was accused by Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, of being 'criminally responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas, in particular its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, and other armed groups on 7 October 2023'. At the ceremony, Mr Galloway said in his acceptance speech, captured on video and posted online: 'I am honoured to receive this award. I actually hold in my safe the passport of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh because when we arrived with one of our convoys to break the siege on Gaza [in 2009], he had promised me a Palestinian passport but they had run out of Palestinian passports. So he gave me his own personal passport and it is one of my most treasured possessions.'
