George Galloway suspended by Labour
The Labour Party has announced that anti-war MP George Galloway has been suspended pending ‘internal party investigations’ into comments he made during the Iraq crisis.
The left-wing MP infuriated the government by branding Tony Blair a wolf, labelling the war ‘illegal’ and making comments interpreted as a call to Arabs to rise up against the coalition.
Mr Galloway hit out at his suspension, calling it ‘completely unjust’ and suggesting that it would prejudice his planned libel action against the Daily Telegraph.
Party General secretary David Triesman announced the suspension, which begins immediately, this afternoon.
The Glasgow Kelvin MP was recently accused by the Telegraph of accepting funds through the Iraqi Oil for Food Programme in return for supporting the Iraqi regime in the west.
Mr Galloway vociferously denies all the charges against him and has vowed to sue the newspaper for defamation.
The Telegraph refuses to back down and claims to have documents to back up its argument but has yet to provide conclusive proof of their existence.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Philip Mawer, announced today that he would be heading an inquiry into whether or not the MP was paid money he did not declare to the Commons fees office.
Mr Galloway, who has visited Iraq many times and has met with the former dictator and deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, insists that he is the victim of a smear campaign.
The investigation comes in response to letter from Conservative MP Andrew Robathan to Mr Mawer stating that it would be ‘extraordinary’ if he did not examine the allegations.
Mr Galloway commented on the letter saying, ‘No doubt Mr Robathan will fume but justice demands that I be allowed to pursue my legal actions without a political stab in the back going on in parallel.’
