George Galloway and Respect statement on the anti-terror bill

In response to comments in the press about last week's vote on New Labour's
anti-terror legislation George Galloway and Respect have issued the
following statement.

Respect remains wholly opposed to the government's legislation and while we
regret missing the vote last week George Galloway will vote on subsequent
important amendments to the bill and will oppose the bill on its final
reading. He has cleared his diary commitments to ensure that he is available
to vote against the bill at its final reading.

We would also like to make clear the difficulty facing a single MP on votes
of this kind. The amendment, which would have taken an additional two votes
to pass and so would have fallen whether or not George Galloway had voted
for it, was only a marginal improvement on the clause in New Labour's bill.
It would still have endangered the freedom of speech of any person who spoke
up for people the government defines as 'terrorists'.

A similar problem arises with the so-called Winnick amendment that is due
before the House this week. It proposes a doubling of the time suspects can
be held without charge to 28 days. George Galloway intends to vote for this
amendment not because we agree with it but simply because it gives the
police fewer powers than the government proposal of 90 day detention without
charge.

For the same reason Respect's policy is to oppose the final bill even if
these amendments are passed.

Finally, Respect would like to underline its commitment to the
extra-Parliamentary opposition to the anti-terror legislation which is of
far greater importance than anything that is being done in the House of
Commons. In this crucial arena George Galloway's activities in opposition to
the anti-terror legislation remain second to none.
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I hope this is of help to some on Indymedia who asked about George and his vote on this issue.

Neil Williams
Respect - The Unity Coalition blog