Like many members [ and even more ex Members] of the Labour Party in Tower Hamlets I was at tonight’s campaign meeting held at St Paul's Church in Bow West..

I could not believe my ears as the women speakers described how insulted they had felt in the way that Oona King had behaved whilst still the local MP.

One woman evens aid that she was incredulous with disbelife when she eventually got to meet Oona King only last year - 8 years after Oona King had first got elected.

I was also amazed to see that Tower Hamlets Council leader Michael Keith turned up.

He was preceded by a few minutes by Denise Jones and he had with him two or three others from the Council.

I also witnessed how George Galloway gave Michael Keith a full run for his money.

And I was pleased that meeting chair Carole Swords was able to joke about throwing Michael Keith out of the meeting if he did not stop heckling and disrupting the meeting!


I know that Michael Keith as Council leader has had Carole Swords thrown out of the Town Hall in the past.

What I also noted was how pathetic Joshua Peck is.

When he was called a liar by George Galloway, Peck lost whatever political awareness he might have pretended to have had. He could not come back to George Galloway with either argument. Or reason. Or challenge.

The same was with Michael Keith and Denise Jones.

What we witnessed at that meeting in Bow West may well be the picture of demonstration that will be the permanent picture of today’s Blair Council after 4 May 2006.

That council has got to be better than it is with the likes of Michael Keith at its helm.

We need to stop Crossrail and if tonight’s meeting was anything to go by, there has got to be a change for the better on 4 May 2006.

I am very pleased that I went along to that meeting on a wetly miserable evening.

Everything that Khoodeelaar! Campaigner Muhammad Haque said was worth the trip. In particular, his comment about the lack of effective Opposition and effective scrutiny from an effective Opposition on Tower Hamlets Council was so timely and true.


Well done to Carole Swords for organising the meeting.

Well done to George Galloway for paying for booking the room.

"George Galloway pounced on Josh Peck and described him a lair"

Was there also a pot there calling a kettle black?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$oil$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Galloway$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Saddam$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Publicity$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

There indeed was a pot!

And that pot was personified by Michael Keith and the huddle of his Blairite chums that managed to seat at the back of the row on the right.

When George Galloway called Josh Peck a liar, it was obvious that Galloway spoke with accurate knowledge about what Josh Peck's background had been. In fact, as Galloway pointed out, Josh Peck had been a close friend of Oona King’s.

What Galloway did not say - and he deserves thanks for restraint on that - was that Michael Keith had been [and remains] as close to Oona King, if not closer, as Josh Peck.

And Keith was already mentally numbed after he had been demolished by the two main speakers before Josh Peck unwisely asked a very ignorant question which he had hoped would catch Galloway out.

It did not.

It gave Galloway the perfect excuse to expose Josh Peck in a way that said more about the emptiness of the Blair lot in Tower Hamlets than it does about a corresponding lack of purpose or integrity on the part of George Galloway.

What came across at the meeting was that the Blair Majority on Tower Hamlets Council was just that -a Blair majority.

It was unlikely to remain so after the4 May 2006 polls.

And Josh Peck is unlikely to feature in any elected majority on Tower Hamlets Council.

So. At a meeting sponsored by George Galloway, two women stand up and say they were disappointed by the MP he replaced.

Erm... how on earth is that news? Supporters-of-Respect-say-they-prefer-it-to-another-political-party-shock!

You could at least be bothered to report what they actually said, even if whatever it was is mind-blowingly predictable.

Could someone explain why this kind of blatant party-propaganda posting isn't hidden?

So what?

You still don’t get it.

So she was ousted from the seat.

So women like the two that spoke at that meeting refused to vote for Oona King.

So Oona King is now faking even more furiously than she would have been had she been re-elected.

What is faking?

Faking an image that has political substance.

She has none.

Faking is what she is condemned to do.

And what an utter waste of 8 years of our electoral time she had committed!