I am not celebrating George Galloway winning the Rochdale by-election.
Galloway is a man who has never got over his days in student politics. He has never embraced the reality of complexity. Nor has he understood the need for coexistence in our communities. That does not make him a suitable MP. Nor does it mean he has a bigger narrative to offer. But it does make him a perfect lightning rod when there is an issue requiring that a protest vote be registered. He was the conduit for that vote last night.
I am not very surprised that the Muslim voters in Rochdale turned out to support him last night.
Labour totally failed them, in so many ways.
The Tories are an anti-Muslim mob. It is not just Islamist views that they despise. That would require nuance beyond their comprehension. Their contempt for those of Muslim faith is broader and almost universal in significant parts of that party, as Baroness Warsi and Caroline Lucas made clear on Question Time last night.
The LibDems did not appear to campaign in a seat they held in 2010.
And unsurprisingly Reform had nothing to say to Rochdale.
So, Rochdale turned to someone who would say that a significant number of people in the constituency were unhappy about the way they are being treated, however unsuitable he might be and however poor a constituency MP he has always turned out to be.
The bizarre reality of this is that Labour's hardline Zionist stance succeeded in delivering an Islamist MP whilst the Tories and Reform's faux Christian fundamentalism led to dire electoral performances.
Is this outcome going to help? I fear it won't. When Muslims are rightly feeling alienated from British politics, Labour's dismal failure at every level, and not just in candidate selection but also in its deeply troubling hardline Zionist support, produced an outcome that can only reinforce extremism when that is the last thing we need.
Let me be clear that I find Zionist, Christian fundamentalist and Islamist beliefs equally troubling. All promote positions that are intended to create exclusion, and so division. That is not what a multicultural society needs. But with the Tories promoting Christian fundamentalism and Labour becoming hardcore Zionist is it in any way surprising that Muslims feel under attack and alienated?
We are in a horrible mess. Those I might describe as ‘ists' of all sides are spreading intolerance. That they are doing so is a threat to us all.
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Thank you and well said, Richard.
I would just add the Hindutva influence creeping in, too.
My parents migrated from the same former colony as Braverman’s mum, arriving a decade before Braverman’s mum and at a time of communal tension in the run-up to independence (1968). There’s more to her stirring (and that of Patel and Sunak whose families, like Braverman’s dad, are from the mainland) than just seeing the main chance, her husband’s affiliations and someone else, a neo-con from the Henry Jackson Society, she’s been close to since childhood.
I do wonder how many ‘white/native’ British people can actually distinguish between Hindus and Muslims. As far as they can tell they’re the same colour……. Maybe that’s why the Tory party didn’t vote for Sunak in the first place?
This is not just about the politics of Netanyahu’s Gaza war creating knock on conflicts in local British politics. It is important to bear in mind that PM Sunak and his family are supporters of India’s present extremist Hindu PM Narendra Modi. The UK’s Islam diaspora will have family and friends in India suffering under his bigoted autocracy.
Avoidance of deepening cultural conflict demands politicians with a deep knowledge of history, comprehensive inter faith understanding and an empathic coherent vision for the UK.
There will be such individuals across the country, just not in any position of political influence or power as the qualities aforementioned would not allow them to participate in the necessary hypocrisy and amoralism.
Agreed
Thank you, both, especially Sara Lanier.
@ Sara: I have relatives, not long deceased, who when studying at Makerere university in the 1950s recalled what the Patel and Sunak types were and warned of trouble once their imperial sponsor left. This was a dozen plus years before Idi Amin Dada. You are in NI and may see an analogy.
My paternal family comes from the same village as Captain Robert Nairac’s family, a name you may be aware of.
In reply to Col Smithers kindliness. So many parallel historical iterations. I was at a family dinner party in London in the mid 1970s when the guest MP at the table made a joke of his recent state funded trip to China, as they had offered him as a quid pro quo to assassinate Amin. He thought it high jinx. He was also then a shadow secretary of state for N.I.. I now believe Nairac knew too much about Kitson’s dirty war tactics and was disgusted by them. I do not know if his tragic abduction and murder were a consequence of his being unwilling to be silent or not. That MP has been publicly disgraced since his death for his lifetime of rampant violent pedophilia in plain sight. As ever with anything regarding any exposure of the truth of British state violence and both ‘sides’ paramiltary collusion in N.I. since 1968/9, the cover ups continue.
There is an effort in the media to suggest only Muslims are opposed to Zionist war crimes, ethnic cleansing and (plausibly) genocide in Palestine.
But that is not so, and ignores the millions of non-Muslims who are also opposed to it.
I doubt Galloway’s support in Rochdale was exclusively Muslim, and he can’t be dismissed as an ‘Islamist’ without evidence that he is.
A vote for him was surely not so much pro-Muslim as anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian.
Did Galloway really say that the vote was for the people of Gaza?
What – with the problems this country and its people are facing.
I’ve worked in Rochdale in the past and i know that the last 14 years or so has not been easy for them at all.
The combo of extremism & prejudice coupled to austerity (this was pretty good by Chakrabortty :
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/01/local-democracy-disposable-income-council-tax
will lead to the polarisation of communities. Thus does neo-liberalism make things much much worse.
At the risk of repeating myself (endlessly) justice and fairness are not words: they are perspectives – which the current crop of politicos have lost sight of (& in doing so encouraged the very extremism & opportunism that we see now).
In the case of the religions mentioned: I regard their major writings as, mostly, great works of art and respect them in that context.
I have no time for Galloway either Richard; a bullshitting populist egomaniacal gobshite if ever there was one.
What his election, and the fact that an independent came second represents, is a reflection of labour’s uselessness as an alternative to the appalling “government” we have now. The response from labour’s spokeswoman on the Today program was laughable. “It’ll all be different come the GE when we put up an official candidate”.
Oh yes, really? God what arrogance. The debacle in parliament last week was disgusting as you noted in your post at the time.
I agree that Galloway is not going to be much use as an MP, ether for the people of Richdale or for this country, but he is their choice.
I am far more intrsted in the independent local person who came second with more votes than the tories and labour put together. I don’t buy ‘we (labour) did not have a candidate’ line. This was an opportunity for the voters to say we don’t want the tories but labour seems no better.
Exactly Cindy, the fact that a local independent came a good second ahead of the main Westminster parties says a lot. I didn’t buy labour’s excuse either. Perhaps if their man hadn’t been dropped by labour because of his stupidity, and the Mail’s (deliberately, of course) timed revelation of this, labour would have won, but given how slow labour has been to call for a ceasefire in Gaza coupled with its behaviour over the SNP motion, I doubt it.
Much as I dislike Galloway and his party, the result is a clear Serves you right! to both tory and labour.
I fear that you are right. There is now a very real risk that Rochdale will be seen, especially by the extreme right, as a hotbed of radical Islamic extremism. They will use that to further their culture wars. The Tory Government, rather than trying to heal the divide, will probably ignore it to suit their own agenda.
As for Galloway, I have never liked him or felt he has anything to offer. He often comes across as one of those people, a bit like Farage, full of his own self-importance and an opportunist. Also like Farage he took the money from TV, to appear on Big Brother if memory serves me. Made a right prat of himself. I don’t know which was worse, Big Brother, or sucking up to a psychopath in Saddam Hussein.
Who is George Galloway?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68405486
I can see more more people like Galloway elected in the general election unless the two main parties change.
Lots of independent socialists are up for standing, and they now know that it’s not just the two main parties people have to vote for.
I hope it will lead to PR in one form or another.
There are lots of councils up for election in May, which again will produce lots of hung councils. I note that the government are giving money to save some councils now, because only 4% of council leaders feel confident about finances, down from 14% last year. Lots more independent councillors as the two main parties really don’t want to be blamed for what’s coming.
Just to add to the general agreement over Galloway, the grifter.
BUT I had a couple of conversations with Labour former colleagues over the week. They all thought Starmer has blown up into overconfidence, like Kinnock, heading for authoritarian omnipotence; they have to keep their pro Palestine feelings quiet as council members, as the witch hunt still continues apace even at constituency level. They think the Tories hold a lot of cards: divide and rule, control of the electoral process, ability to invoke emergency powers, huge amounts of dosh from the US Far right. They see a hung Parliament, which was my expectation. The fat lady is far from singing and I don’t put anything past the Tories. I wouldn’t be surprised by a ‘terrorist attack’ in the summer leading to emergency powers being invoked; I am, after all, Machiavellian in outlook.
At least Galloway does appear to have read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on Genocide in his support for the Palestinians!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide-convention.shtml
And Galloway appears NOT to have read the MPs’ Code of Conduct which lists their duties. The first is to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Crown, the second to uphold the law including the general law against discrimination, the third is to act in the interests of the nation as a whole. Galloway also has a special duty to represent ALL of his constituents (110,000-ish. with an electorate of 73,000), not just the 12,335 who voted for him.
Churchill famously declared that, “The first duty of a member of Parliament is to do what they think in their faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain”. In my opinion, despising the PM with such fervency, on camera, did not do our honour much good, and encouraging total support for Gaza and Hamus didn’t do a great deal for our safety.
But what was worse?
Calling out a prime minister who tolerates genocide or a prime minister who says people should not have the right to elect Galloway?
Can I remind everyone that the depth of Galloway’s boasted radicalism can be measured by his having campaigned, just as violently, for the defeat of his own country’s freedom in 2014. All that Scotland has suffered since that disaster was in small, noisy part also the work of this self-inflated blaw-bag. Dear electors of Rochdale, you have been had. But what does it say about English politics that this toerag is the best parliamentary campaigner it has to offer for the people of Gaza?
My gut feeling is that when Galloway decamped to English politics, most of Scotland sighed sighs of relief.
There’s no doubt that Galloway is a talented and persuasive orator, but equally, there is little doubt that he’s a Dodgy Geezer whose principal aims are self-aggrandisement and personal wealth accumulation and his vote against Scottish Independence in the 2014 referendum hasn’t helped his reputation here.
Absolutely, Scotland was well rid but I’m looking forward to him making things very uncomfortable for Sunk and Starmer in the HoC.
As a P.S. to my own post, here’s John Crace of the Guardian’s summation of Galloway’s talents in 30 words:
“Galloway is just one of politics’ natural gobshites. The left’s version of Nigel Farage. A man whose prime cause is himself and who exists in a narcissistic bubble of trouble-making.”
Says it all really.
George Galloway may not be the answer to any constituency or question but during what may be a short parliamentary stint, I for one am looking forward to him getting tore into those Westminster Tory and Labour shysters, especially Starmer!
Galloway is the answer to all those who say they will not vote as voting for one of the lesser parties is a wasted vote. He’s shown what a mess the two big parties are, and they can be beaten. Even one of the independents beat Labour and Tory.
What worries me is the few votes that the Green party got again. Why do people not vote for them?
Why was Sunak allowed to get away with what he said this afternoon, and why was Lammy allowed to say what he did about Corbyn on QT?
Both Corbyn and Galloway have big pots of money to sue those who make false statements.
Jenw
The Green party candidate had also been disowned by his party and, I believe, withdrew from the fight. https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/155207/rochdale-byelection-greens-call-on-members-to-vote-for-independent-candidate-mark-coleman-who-holds-same-values-as-us-after-denouncing-own-candidate
But the independent that the green party told its supporters to vote for only got 19 votes more than the green party candidate who was still on the paper. They both got fewer than 500 votes.
While all the main parties are saying what an aberration this vote was and are being nasty about Galloway they are also saying the voters of Rochdale don’t matter either. They are not doing themselves any favours.
Voters of Rochdale don’t know what they are doing, do they? We’ll get them a much better candidate for the general election. If I were a voter in Rochdale I’d tell them all what to do. I’d vote for the most independent of independents, which is what over 6000 of them appear to have done. I’d also look into the background of all the candidates a lot more thoroughly than the parties themselves did. For three of the parties to find out that their candidates had said things they obviously disagreed with shows a lack of care for the people of Rochdale.
One thing about George Galloway is that those who voted for him knew a lot more about him than the others, and voted for him.
I wouldn’t have done because I don’t like him anyway, although I do admire him for standing up for what he believes in.
I am sure he will be on nottheandrewmarrshow on Sunday morning, by the way, if anyone wants to see him justify himself.
Thank you to Sara for the reply.
I met Kitson in the mid-1980s. We went to the same school. He was the main speaker one speech day, lectured sixth formers annually and inspected the cadets annually.
From time to time, the Mauritian Catholic hierarchy contacts its Irish equivalent for help. Nairac’s extended family are oligarchs, not just in Mauritius, but on the African mainland, too, and have produced many priests, including two cardinals in the past generation.
Thanks for sharing this personal and fascinating information.
The longer I live in this troubled world the more grateful I become that any youthful ambitions I once possessed were thwarted. Our actions, no matter how well thought out or motivated, too often impact others in ways we can not foresee. The more powerful our position in life, the greater harm we may find ourselves responsible for. For now treading as lightly on earth as I am able.
I think it possible to do good.
Thanks, Richard, for the lucid exposition.
One can talk down Galloway – with ease.
However, don’t disregard the fact that Chris Williamson is the other leading light of the Workers Party – and he’s an MMT-er. Actually, I’m still not sure about the two politicians together, but it is worth paying some attention to their economic manifesto. (Paper written for the Party’s recent Congress.)
https://workerspartybritain.org/2023/11/10/congress-discussion-mmt-and-the-economy/
I know Chris of old
This is a brilliant essay on the historical roots and cultural complexities of the present day socio- political conflicts surrounding Netanyahu’s war in Gaza.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n05/pankaj-mishra/the-shoah-after-gaza?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20240302icymi&utm_content=20240302icymi+CID_2348f1a016f786b364726468237cc33c&utm_source=LRB%20email&utm_term=ead%20more
Thanks
My assessment if the Rochdale Result – which brings in things touched on in this and your recent posts.
https://brianfishhope.com/blog/574-rochdale-makes-four-things-very-clear