Galloway to face suspension from Labour

Scotland on Sunday ^ | April 27, 2003 | BRIAN BRADY AND JASON ALLARDYCE

[MadIvan]

GEORGE Galloway is set to be suspended from Labour within days as a first step to being thrown out of the party, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Sources close to the whips office say the case against the maverick MP for Glasgow Kelvin was strong enough to merit suspension before he faced allegations of taking money from Saddam Hussein.

His offences include branding Tony Blair a ‘wolf’, calling another minister a liar, telling another Glasgow Labour MP "F*** off, you twat", and taking time off from the Commons without permission.

Scotland on Sunday’s own analysis of Galloway’s voting record shows he is the worst of all 10 Glasgow MPs, missing 200 out of 361 votes last year.

The rebel MP is understood to be consulting lawyers about Labour’s constitutional case for action against him, and has until Tuesday to respond to a series of allegations being compiled by Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong. But senior government sources confirmed that Galloway is likely to be suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) within days, after Armstrong’s report goes before Labour’s parliamentary committee.

"George’s comments against the Prime Minister would appear to be in clear breach of the code of conduct expected of Labour MPs," one senior government source said.

Galloway would remain an MP following any suspension, and he would still be expected to support Labour, but he would be barred from meetings of the PLP and other party privileges.

The dramatic move could, however, be the precursor to the maverick MP’s final expulsion from the party as a whole, ending a controversial relationship that has stretched back over more than three decades.

Labour general secretary David Triesman is to investigate claims that Galloway was paid at least £375,000 a year by the Iraqi regime, although he is expected to refrain from delivering a final verdict until the MP’s libel case against the Daily Telegraph is decided.

But Galloway could be kicked out of the Labour Party for good long before that. Labour’s National Executive Committee is to meet on June 10 to decide whether to withdraw the whip permanently from Galloway based on earlier complaints.

His political career is also threatened by an inquiry into his handling of the Mariam Appeal, which began as an attempt to raise money for an Iraqi girl suffering from leukaemia but developed into a political campaign against international sanctions on Iraq. The charity commission has said it will investigate whether cash raised to pay for Mariam Hamza’s medical care amounted to charitable funds but was spent on non-charitable activity.

[MadIvan]

Blair has been waiting for this; he will take the corpse of Galloway's career and hang it in front of other far left MPs.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[ForOurFuture]

Do you know if being booted from Labour is tantamount to being booted from the House? Or can he remain in parliament without having the support of a party? I recall from comparative government that Britain's government is strongly oriented around parties, and that MPs are basically chosen and under the control of their party's administration.

[MadIvan]

He can remain in Parliament until such time as he is actually convicted of a crime. He certainly will not be re-selected by the Labour Party for a seat, however.

Regards, Ivan

[Mr. Silverback]

Galloway to face suspension from Labour

Hopefully to soon face suspension from the ranks of the living-- at the end of a rope.

Messrs Blair and Triesman and Madame Armstrong, please make haste to remove this stain from Scotland's honor.

[wimpycat]

I think it would be similar to Jim Traficant being excluded from the Democratic caucus after he supported Denny Hastert's re-election as Speaker of the House.

[Bigg Red]

GEORGE Galloway is set to be suspended from Labour within days...

Galloway should be suspended from a gallows for treason.

[Alkhin]

MadIvan, are you aware of Freedom and Whisky, a Scotland blog? If you are not, I believe you would appreciate it.

Was also wondering if this is as far as Parliament et al can go in making their displeasure known? Please forgive my ignorance, but it seems to me that there should be immediate reprisals for this as a kind of treason? Or maybe I am missing too much of the information????

Best regards,
Alkhin

[Clive]

Party discipline is much stronger in a parliamentary system than it is in a congressional system, due in no small measure in the serious consequences that arise if a government loses a vote on a serious issue.

To govern, a Prime Minister must keep the confidence of the House, and to do that he must keep control of the governing party.

Bi-partisanship, of which we hear so much in a Congressional system (especially when Trent Lott was majority leader) is foreign to the parliamentary system. It depends on active opposition and on the parties facing each other daily as adversaries across an aisle designed to be two sword-lengths wide.

But a member of parliament holds his seat by reason of having been elected by his riding, not by his party. If he is turfed out of caucus, he must then either join another party if it will have him or he must sit as an independent. In the latter case, he sits at rear of the House, far from the Speaker and seldom recognized to ask questions or make speeches.

[RippleFire]

Galloway bump

[sheikdetailfeather]

Fantastic!

[mrustow]

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Ivan!

[I_Love_My_Husband]

This guy Galloway is in big big BIG trouble.

Good! He's a traitor anyway, and according to this story:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/news/news1.shtml

he cheated on his first wife (UK-caucasian) with the woman to become his 2nd wife (Pakistani MUSLIM), married the Pakistani woman and cheated on HER with his black cuban prostitute mistress!

And, on top of it, he smokes cigars! (I HATE cigars!)

[mewzilla]

Scotland on Sunday’s own analysis of Galloway’s voting record shows he is the worst of all 10 Glasgow MPs, missing 200 out of 361 votes last year.

Pity this didn't bother the Labour Party sooner. This little factoid should have told them something. But then Labour's tolerance up til now for Galloway is a lot more telling.

[GailA]

MASTER LIST Useless Nation's Oil for Food scam + galloway

[mewzilla]

According to Bill Krystol on FOX this morning, Galloway may soon have some company on the hot seat. Intel sources have told Krystol that Galloway wasn't the only pol on Saddamn's payroll...And that some reporters, especially Arab reporters, were also recipients of Saddamn's largesse.

[aristeides]

Didn't Galloway say he would run as an independent, if need be? Would he have any chance of winning the election in his constituency?

[thucydides]

Thanks for the post. I have heard that Scottish and Welsh MPs are the whole base of the Labour Party, and that if England alone were counted, the Tories would have a majority. Do you know if there is anything to this?

[geedee]

No problem. He can move here and become a DemocRAT.

[GailA]

I heard that, also some Western reporters, he did not say if the were ME or anglo.