filistin lebanon libanon hizbullah hezbollah hisbollah George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician noted for his socialist views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill. He is currently the Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow, and was previously elected as a Labour Party MP for Glasgow Hillhead and Glasgow Kelvin.
Galloway is perhaps best known for his vigorous campaign to overturn economic sanctions against Iraq, and for his visits to Saddam Hussein in 1994 and 2002. He was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 when a party body decided that he had brought the party into disrepute over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when he called the Labour government "Tony Blair's lie machine",[1] and stated that British soldiers should "refuse to obey illegal orders".[2]
In January 2004, he teamed up with the Socialist Workers Party, leading members of the anti-Iraq war movement such as Salma Yaqoob, and other figures on the British left such as filmaker Ken Loach and journalist George Monbiot, to form RESPECT The Unity Coalition (Respect), a new political party to the left of Labour. He won his seat in the 2005 general election, the only time Respect has won a Parliamentary election. In January 2006 he sparked controversy for taking part in the television series Celebrity Big Brother.
has a reputation as a fiery left-winger and advocates redistribution of wealth, greater spending on welfare benefits, and extensive nationalisation of large industries. He opposes Scottish independence and supports the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he left the church for a time but returned to Christian belief in his mid-20s, and he is opposed to abortion, although he supports Respect's pro-choice stance. However, some critics, like Nick Cohen, have suggested he is in fact a far right-winger like Oswald Mosley for lining up with, as Cohen sees it, Ba'athist and Islamic fundamentalist regimes hostile to everything the left stands for.
Galloway is also a prominent critic of Israel, frequently condemning Israel's military actions.
In 1994 he voted to support the equalisation of the age of consent for homosexuality (which was then 21 years) with that for heterosexuality at 16 years[1], and then voted against a reduction of the homosexual age of consent to 18[2]. He voted in favour of permitting unmarried and gay couples to adopt children. [3] Critics have claimed that his involvement in the leadership of Respect - which made no explicit mention of gay rights in its 2005 election manifesto[27] and accepted donations from certain Islamic, homophobic sources[28] - raise questions about commitment to those issues. However, Respect's 2005 conference which Galloway took part in, resolved that explicit defence of equal rights and calls for the end to all discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people would be made in all of its manifestos and principal election materials. [4]
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