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Will Galloway go the same way as David Kelly?

?? | 11.05.2005 10:58 | Anti-militarism | Repression | Social Struggles | London

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, an embittered Oona King said that her former constituents would live to regret voting her out of office, and hinted that there might soon be a by-election in Bethnal Green and Bow for "one reason or another".

By-elections are called when the incumbent MP dies. Does Ms King know something we don't know?

??

Comments

Hide the following 19 comments

Look behind you

11.05.2005 13:04

I love the idea that there are those contributing to Indymedia who really thing that agents of the State would kill an MP. I suppose the problem with a lifetime of Hollywood films and failed political dreams is that it fuels ideas of this sort.

Ona King "knows" what everybody except the wooly headed supporters of Respect knows, that Galloway will pursue the first EU Parliment seat that arrives because he knows an EU MP is nearly never voted out because the electorate turn out is miniscule as as such organisations like the SWP can influence the result in a far more effective way than in UK Parlimentary elections.

The much higher salary and expenses provision from the EU will also allow George to support the lifestyle he enjoys, a particular problem for him at the moment as he will no longer have access to his wife's money.

As a final point would anybody like to comment on the references to King's Jewish mother that were used in Respect leaflets - what was the reason behind this being noted ?

James Bond


What references?

11.05.2005 13:52

There are no such references. Respect locally and nationally is firmly opposed to anti-semitism and all other forms of racism. Accusations of anti-semitism levelled at respect are nothing more than pathetic attempts to smear the party.

Poplar & Canning Town voter


Er, spook...

11.05.2005 13:57

007,

Be a luv and give us the quote, stating which leaflet it came from. After all there's no point wasting our time over something WHICH MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY EXIST.

kindest wishes

Skyver Bill

Skyver Bill


Durr...

11.05.2005 15:06

That's right Jamesy (WHO'S been watching to many fillums??), governments don't kill people do they? I mean, what the hell would they want to do that for??

last of the reds


Don't believe the hype

11.05.2005 15:07

You can bet your bottom dollar that all kind of bullshit is going to be directed at galloway in the weeks and months to come. he has already indured 4 successful libel cases, 2 against Oona king.

I was leafleting for RESPECT , there was nothing on any of those leaflets where it made any references to Oona being jewish.

Historically, the establishment has always tried to discredit prominent lefties or anyone who fought the system, so as Public Enemy Number 1 use to sing " DON'T BELEIVE THE HYPE" and quite rightly to.

red letter


Respect leaflet

11.05.2005 15:10

Has anybody actually got copies of the Respect leaflets they can post?

It was a good wound licking sesion on the radio this morning.

Well, at least the people in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency have someone to better represent them.

Truth Persuer


Kings Jewish mother...

11.05.2005 15:25

To previous poster. As far as I am aware, the only person in the campaign to have mentioned Oona Kings Jewish ancestry is Oona King herself. As for wanting a euro seat - it is far easier to win a first past the post seat than a euro seat with its vast geographical area.

Your whole post smells of sour grapes. Face it. You lost. Now why don't you move on. Perhaps if people like Oona King start serving the communities you get elected to represent, you wouldn't get voted out of office. Try not fighting any illegal wars in Iraq. Try not attacking our civil liberties. Try not kissing George Bushes arse at every available opportunity (or Tony Blairs for that matter).Try not privatising our council homes. Try not attacking our fire service. Try not stealing the pensions of public sector workers. Respect won't, which is why THEY WON AND NEW LABOUR LOST, as they will big time in next years local elections.

Move on you saddo, and if you are going to try to smear Galloway, something that the mass media and the security services have so far singularly failed to do, you could at least try and manufacture some 'evidence' to back up your ridiculous claims. You have to ask yourself, who are the real racists - Respect, who have succesfully politicised and mobilised a section of the community which itself faces day to day racism from the police, state, media and idiots such as yourself, or New Labour, which panders slavishly to a fundamentalist Christian retard on a crazy crusade to impose neoliberalism on the Arab world. Enough said.

Face it...YOU LOST.


Oona king? - never again!

11.05.2005 16:40

maybe you are thinking about I leaflet I produced which does mention Oona's mother...

Thinking of voting think
for Oona King? again...


SPINELESS HYPOCRITE
Oona King, who has a Jewish mother and an African American civil rights campaigner as a father, can occasionally be found giving lip service to human rights issues herself. Sadly her 'concerns' prove to be empty rhetoric when it comes to voting as she has consistently backed Labours moves to erode our hard won civil rights...

Oona hardly ever voted against Labour party line. 405th out of 649 MPs.

AGAINST CIVIL RIGHTS
Oona voted for Labour's anti-terrorism laws and detention without trial.
Oona voted in favour of terror laws on 8 separate occasions times and missed 29 other opportunities to vote on this important issue.

FOR BIG BROTHER
Oona voted for introducing ID cards and a national biometrics database.
Oona voted against freedom of information legislation.

FOR WAR CRIMES
Oona voted for air strikes against Afghanistan in 2001
Oona voted for UK military support for the US led invasion of Iraq.

Some of the other things Oona has bothered to turn up to vote for include:
student top-up fees, banning fox hunting, equal gay rights to marriage.

LAZY KING
Oona is among the worst performing MPs, but with one of country's safest seats in the last election - with a majority of 10,057 voters (26% ahead of any other party!!) - apparently 'Blair Babe' Oona King hasn't felt much need to work or represent her constituents...
Oona attended only 64% of votes in parliament. 437th out of 658 MPs.
Oona spoke in just 13 debates in the last year. 471st out of 659 MPs.
Oona ignored ~83% of constituents correspondence* 574th out of 590 MPs.
* Oona replied to just 7% of emails and faxes sent to her via FaxYourMP.com within 14 days during 2004

All information compiled by www.TheyWorkForYou.com from official sources

Still thinking of voting for Oona King?

DON'T VOTE - IT ONLY ENCOURAGES THEM
WHO EVER YOU VOTE FOR, THE GOVERNMENT ALWAYS GETS IN
VOTE NOBODY, BECAUSE NOBODY REALLY REPRESENTS YOU

x


We'll See

11.05.2005 17:07

Galloway has already said (on a number of occasions) that he will be seeking an MEP seat however if you want to think that his election represents some great new dawn in British politics I can't stop you.

There are however others of us who at first welcomed Respect and then watched in desend into a cult of the personality around Galloway. Let's put a stake in the ground I say he's gone in 24 months at the most.

O and by the way grow up with the whole rubbish about the State killing people - Galloway or otherwise it's just a bit childish

James Bond


Give George A Break

11.05.2005 17:30


Who hates George?
News Night, Today Programme, world at One; Radio 5 BBC, (In fact the whole of the Beeb) ITV, Rupert Murdock’s pile of crap empire; Uoona King (wonder why?); Private Eye's and Have I got News for You 's overgrown schoolboy Knob head, Ian Hislop; Tony Blair (wonder why); Tory Party; Liberal Party; most of the Labour Party except the Dudes on our side (Anti Authoritians, socialists and the like; Sadam Hussein really disliked him; BNP; Israeli State; Donald Rumsfeld and the Neocons (not the band). Daily Telegraph (lost libel suits), tuns of other publications that flasely accused him of something dodgy - and were wrong ...

There's a pattern imerging here: all the worlds free-marketter toss-pot lairs, you'd like to see fired into outer space strapped to a rocket.

George has caused more shit for this lot, and won - beat them. And he'll be in parliament giving the B's a hard time. He's not perfect, a tad on the arrogant side humble - but neither am I; and neither are you.

He's done all this on an MP's salary + media work top ups which are all pc. That's amazing value for money. And the lad's gorgeous.

Miss Moneypenny



AFKASED


truth

11.05.2005 17:52

Ever wondered where SWP were during the election?

Well they didn't go far, in fact the SWP is behind Respect, the SWP is Respect basically.

Respect is an unholy alliance between extremist authoritarian lefties and Muslims who think politics and religion should mix.

If there was a Christian party mixing up politics and religion, people here would be outraged, but when a left wing authoritarian party, with SWP as its main constituent, starts mixing it up with Islam there is no condemnation.

Think about it this way, Muslim businessmen were voting respect, why would they do this? What does Respect have to offer business except for higher taxes and regulation? The answer is they voted Respect because it is seen as a recepticle for Muslim votes, it is a religious party allied by convenience with the SWP, a real unholy alliance.

The accusations of anti semitism are unsurprising. Anti semitism is very common among the body politic of most Muslim countries, Jews are blamed for all the ills and portrayed like they were in the 1930s by the Nazis, yet the commies on here choose to ignore this as they don't criticise anyone foreign, non white or Islamic, as that would clearly be "racist" or whatever.

George Galloway said he wanted a war on drugs, whereas his backers, the SWP want them legalised. There are so many contradictions it is unreal. The one thing that is consistent is that Galloway is a shameless egotist prepared to do anything to win votes, and the SWP are equally shameless in their ambition to get someone elected, regardless of the lies they need to tell.

actually


...

11.05.2005 21:23

You know, the US secret services broke up the Black Panthers by getting fake factions within the movement to spread shit about each other, causing disunity and fragmentation.

See COINTELPRO, and their actions.

George may not be perfect, and I'm not a fan of the SWP. However, they are a damn sight better than New Labour. And George has done a lot A LOT of work about the issues in the middle-east. More than most of those who criticise him. Now, I think there are far more important targets to focus on than George Galloway. It seems kind of stupid. Or we could have an infestation of trolls simply stirring shit between anarchists and socialists.

So just to warn anybody wanting to jump onto the factional infighting bandwagon...that's exactly the methodology the state use to break up progressive political movements. If the criticism you are going to voice is not constructive, and simply shit-spreading, then you're not doing anyone other than the state any favours.

It's very easy for any movement to be infiltrated. The BNP infiltrated SWSS. Now imagine a member of the BNP in SWSS then goes on the attack against anarchists. People who are easily led will go on the attack against anarchists. And vice-versa. People here are particularly venemous against George. But why? Why more so than, say Tony Blair, or Oona King?

I have been guilty of simply back-biting about SWSS, because they did annoy me quite a lot of the time, but that should be limited to constructive criticism, since the people within it essentially want 'a better world' as well. The forces that have disrupted unity among the left shouldn't just be put into 'the fault of SWSS' or 'the fault of the anarchists'. Such sweeping generalisations are easily manipulated. It only takes one intelligence agent, or one right-wing infiltrator, to pry open that division, if people are not sober and sharp enough to take a step back and realise they are being led down a fruitless and divisive path.

Leave gorgeous george alone!!!

'The only people we hate more than the Romans is the People's Front of Judea'

Hermes


proper debate

11.05.2005 23:52

That is the kind of argument that is always wheeled out when people dare to criticise authoritarian left groups like the SWP and Respect.

Lets face it, Respect IS an unholy opportunist alliance between people who want religion in politics and the SWP. Criticism of this needs to be made, and it is fair criticism.

Simply towing the line because of bizarre conspiracy theories about infiltration is absolutely pointless. Let's leave David Ike out of this shall we.

actually


No, ooooooona just gets to see reports

12.05.2005 07:15

She would have been allowed to see this report, probably before the election.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4538735.stm


"George? Hi, Tony here, we have a problem with one of our MP's and that gobby bastard Galloway"

"No problem Tony, leave it with me, and I sort those cheese eating surrender monkeys out at the same time"

silent bob


skulduggery

12.05.2005 10:09

A government that fabricates intelligence to justify going to war (100,000 Iraqis + 87 or more British soldiers dead so far) is capable of anything. An extra couple of dead bodies is neither here nor there to these people. I still don't believe the official story about David Kelly's death, and wouldn't be in the least surprised if a tragic "accident" took Galloway from us some time soon.

Of course they'll first try to smear him with the same-old same-old about his being a secret oil tycoon in the pay of Saddam Hussein. Might be more interesting to ask who's funding the US senators on this "committee"...

....


...

12.05.2005 12:46

I have criticisms of the SWP as well. They are terrible at taking over anything they are a part of. And if I get one more newspaper shoved in my face I swear...

But they have their strengths, and that is their ability to mobilise many many people, and to organise. They played a pivotal role in getting millions of people out on the anti-war demonstrations.

Your argument against them is simply 'SWP bad', with even more scathing attacks against them than aimed at New Labour. 'Galloway bad', even though he was incredible at speaking out against the war, and against the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. You just don't like him because he wears a suit? Maybe you should suggest to him that he wear dreadlocks instead.

You should criticise, but your criticism is not constructive criticism. It is hateful, bitter, shit-stirring criticism, against people who are essentially on the same side. And for that reason, I say you are helping the state, and not the left. And there's nothing David Ikeish about what I say. In fact, your argument is more like David Ike, because you are simply dividing people into 'good' and 'bad'. Let's wait for the next post saying George Galloway is in reality a space-lizard in the pay of Bush.

But COINTELPRO was not a conspiratorial invention. It is a well-documented operation by the FBI to destroy 'subversive' groups in the US, by planting infiltrators, and causing division by shit-stirring and slander. A lot of people have a chip on their shoulder about the way the SWP work, and people in the SWP have a chip on the shoulder about the way other left groups work. All it takes is one agent, or one right-wing infiltrator, to exploit those divisions and make them insurmountable.

Why are you spending so much effort and energy into attacking George Galloway, whose victory was really a blow for Blair and the war-mongers? How many hundreds of thousands of people has Galloway killed? I mean, whatever you may think of him personally, the fact he won his election was really a kick in the balls for New Labour, and that can only be a good thing.

So, before you simply compare me to David Ike again, here are some facts

1) COINTELPRO was a well documented operation by the state to cause division in the left
2) It has already been revealed that the SWP was infiltrated by members of the BNP
3) In the US, it has been shown that anti-war groups were infiltrated by undercover cops
4) It is known that right-wing trolls frequent Indymedia and stir shit up as well

Because of this, we should be very careful about simply jumping onto the bandwagon, and slagging each other off, simply because we have a grudge. It is an easily exploitable division. These days I try and stick to a simple rule. If I have a problem with somebody, I say it to their face, and discuss it with them. I don't backbite out of earshot, and I don't post anonymous posts making broad, divisive generalisations on message boards. It took me a while to learn the value of this principle, it is a difficult principle to follow. But if people are truthful and respectful of each other, then we cannot be divided.

Hermes


About that leaflet.....

17.05.2005 21:31

I notice that in your leaflet mentioning Oona Kings voting record you gleefully record she voted for student top up fees, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq AND equal rights for gay marriage. I wasn't aware equal rights for people of a certain sexual orientation were a bad thing, not unless, and shame on me for thinking it, you happened to be an opportunistic Scotish MP hypocritically pandering to fundamentalist bigotry, he also tells people he's against abortion when the right people are listening.

Ho Chi Minh
mail e-mail: acatchermarkii@aol.com


Speaking of records..

18.05.2005 22:50

He makes makes Oona seem like a workaholic..


George Galloway spoke in 0 debates in the last year — tied for last, out of 659 MPs.

Asked 0 written questions in the last year — in a large multi-way tie for last, out of 659 MPs.

Has attended 3% of votes in parliament — 649th out of 657 MPs. (From Public Whip)

In the 1997–2001 parliament Galloway rebelled against Blair in just five votes out of 665, 0.8%. (For comparison: Jeremy Corbyn rebelled 77 times, and John McDonnell 72.)

LipaYai


Muslims in east end voted for the terrorist George Gallaway

11.07.2005 11:22

I think that some of the hand wringing of the muslim community especially in the east end is empty and false!!!!!! They voted for Goerge Gallaway a anti Iraq war and pro Iraqi insurrgents (freedom fighter). The other the choice was a black woman MP, of american and Jewish parentage. Get real they voted for the MP that supported the Muslim view that the WAR in IRAQ was a war on Islam!!! They have polarised themselves. Already George has made pronouncements after the bombings on thursdays, some very heated. The new goverenment of Iraq was elected by 70% of the Iraqis, only Georges friends the Sunnis the backers of the insurgency did fully take part, they where to busy killing innocent Iraqis to vote. George has called the new goverenment a poppet government. He also called Ona king an air head.
He should have been arrested when he urged the british troops to disobey orders. Muslims have to be honest they cheer when British or american troops are killed.
The main stream Islamic leaders should say what they believe, do they believe that war in Iraq is a war against Islam??????

Everton Elliott
mail e-mail: everton_elliott@hotmail.com