Galloway win labelled ‘dark day for Jews in this country’

Largest Jewish community organisation calls for newly elected MP to be shunned at Parliament

GEORGE GALLOWAY’S by-election victory in Rochdale was “a dark day for the Jewish community in this country”, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said.

The largest Jewish community organisation in the UK said the newly elected MP should be “shunned as a pariah by all Parliamentarians” in the wake of his win.

Mr Galloway secured 40 per cent of the vote last night on a pro-Palestinian ticket, and returns to Westminster for the fourth time – this time for the Workers Party of Britain.

A spokesman for the Board of Depu- ties said: “George Galloway is a demagogue and conspiracy theorist, who has brought the politics of division and hate to every place he has ever stood for Par- liament.

“His election is a dark day for the Jewish community in this country, and for British politics in general. We believe he should be shunned as a pariah by all Parliamentarians.”

Over the course of Mr Galloway’s career spanning almost four decades, he has been criticised on several occasions for comments made about Israel.

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said that Mr Galloway “has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community”.

“He has previously and infamously declared Bradford an ‘Israel-free zone’. He said of his previous election loss that ‘the venal, the vile, the racists and the Zionists will all be celebrating’.

“He described David Baddiel, a Jewish comic who is well known for not closely associating himself with Israel, as a ‘vile Israel-fanatic’.

“He claimed that the institutional antisemitism within the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn was really ‘a disgraceful campaign of Goebbelsian fiction’, in reference to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propagandist.”

They added: “He was sacked by TalkRadio over his views. Recently he has described the atrocity carried out by Hamas on Oct 7 as a ‘concentration camp breakout’ and referred to Hamas terrorists as ‘fighters’.”

They said that they were “extremely concerned by how he may use the platform of the House of Commons in the remaining months of this Parliament”.

It comes as the deputy leader of the Workers Party of Britain refused to condemn the Hamas attacks on Oct 7.

Chris Williamson, who was suspended

George Galloway has orange confetti thrown at him by a protester during his victory speech at Rochdale leisure centre

from Labour in 2019 after claiming that the party had been “too apologetic” over allegations of anti-Semitism, is now a member of Mr Galloway’s party.

When asked whether he would condemn the Oct 7 attacks, Mr Williamson told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme said: “What about the Palestinian people that have been massacred over nearly 76 years now actually, where is the media outrage at that? What do you expect? And in international law, oppressed peoples have an absolute right to armed resistance.”

Mr Galloway’s victory speech was temporarily interrupted by an eco protester, who accused him of being a denier of climate change.

Her protest was swiftly drowned out by the Left-wing politician’s supporters chanting “Galloway! Galloway!” until she was dragged off by security.

Another activist tried to throw orange confetti over him – the colour closely associated with Just Stop Oil – but they missed their target.

It came as Rishi Sunak described the Rochdale campaign as “one of the most divisive in recent times” as candidates complained of aggressive behaviour by Mr Galloway’s supporters.

The Conservatives accused Galloway supporters of hounding people and following them down the streets, as well as intimidation in one particular ward.

They said they had put in an official complaint to Rochdale council about the bullying behaviour.

Reform UK said its staff had had to be removed from the constituency for their own safety, while a burger van displaying a party poster was threatened with firebombing. Earlier this week a man was arrested after making an online death threat against the Reform candidate, Simon Danczuk.

Mr Sunak said: “It was very concerning to see the reports of intimidation through the by-election, and by all accounts one of the most divisive campaigns that we’ve seen in recent times. I’m pleased the Conservative Party was the only party to run a really positive campaign focused on local issues with a great local candidate, Paul Ellison.”

A No10 spokesman said the intimidation “doesn’t represent our values of tolerance and respect and he’s very clear that he will always defend and champion those values”.

“There is a difference between robust debate and the importance of freedom of expression and intimidation and we won’t allow that to continue or stifle democracy,” he said.

In a post on twitter, Reform UK said: “People across the UK need to know the truth about this election campaign – and the implications for our democracy.

“To suggest that a parliamentary election in this country has not been truly free and fair is a very serious allegation indeed. Unfortunately, however, the behaviour of certain candidates and their supporters in this contest fell very far short of our traditional democratic standards.”

A spokesman for Mr Galloway and Rochdale council were contacted for comment. catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza strip.”

At another point he said: “I want to tell Mr Starmer above all, that the plates have shifted tonight.”

Later in an interview, he said: “I think Keir Starmer has woken up this morning to his worst nightmare.”

Nobody has been voicing these personal attacks on Sir Keir relating to Gaza in the House of Commons.

Labour MPs critical of their leader’s position have been using much more couched language, focussed on the specifics of the conflict.

Even the SNP, the party leadership that has been most vocal about the need for an immediate ceasefire and most critical of Sir Keir on the topic, has not gone anywhere near this far.

And yet, come Monday, there Mr Galloway will be, sitting on the green benches and with a chance to launch his critique with the cameras rolling.

This victory in effect hands Mr Galloway a megaphone. He can challenge Sir Keir face to face, if he chooses. He will get countless more hours of air time on national TV channels, no longer voicing off from the sidelines but speaking as one of only 650 people elected as MPs.

Millions more voters between now and the general election will hear Mr Galloway’s attacks on the Labour Gaza position than would have been the case in defeat. That rhetorical intensity – and even Mr Galloway’s political opponents admit he has a unique ability to channel anger with effective oratory – will now become a feature of Parliament this year.

Could it bounce Labour into taking a harder stance calling for a ceasefire than it does currently? Ellie Reeves,

Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator, argued not as she faced the broadcasters yesterday morning.

But the answer could well turn out to be yes. Take the heat out of Mr Galloway’s words and the thrust of his argument will have heads nodding among a fair few Labour MPs – that the leadership needs to take a bolder stance calling for a ceasefire.

The second, fascinating question that follows is could Mr Galloway’s party, the Workers Party of Britain, replicate his success elsewhere at the election and harm Labour?

It is not impossible. Prof Sir John Curtice, the BBC’s election guru, has previously noted many of the constituencies that have large Muslim populations are also places where Labour has big majorities, potentially protecting sitting MPs from any backlash.

Yesterday morning, though, he said some of those Labour MPs “will be looking to Sir Keir perhaps to toughen his stance on Israel in order to try to head that off ”. Some candidates, such as Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, were already facing candidates running on a pro-Palestine ticket. More Labour MPs will now be braced for similar.

This week was a reminder it is not only Labour facing political fallout from the Israel-Gaza conflict, with Lee Anderson – once the Tory “secret weapon” for the election – suspended in an Islamophobia row. But it is Labour facing the trickier political terrain. Even if Mr Galloway’s claim that he can deny Labour seats proves incorrect, his words alone will create a headache for Sir Keir that will not pass until election day.