Skip to content or view screen version

The BBC and 'others' 'war' on George Galloway - a Bethnal Green commentary-1

AADHIKARonline in association with Khoodeelaar! No to Crossrail hole Bill | 23.09.2007 11:51 | Globalisation | Social Struggles | London | World

By©Muhammad Haque
1150 GMT
London Sunday 23 September 2007


Last Friday's edition of the BBC2 programme 'NEWSNIGHT' promoted the voters-rejected candidate Oona King as if she had just come back from climbing Mount Everest! As had the Andrew Neill-fronted 'THIS WEEK' slot the previous night shown on BBC1. There is such an acceptance of this token of 'multiple ethnicities and affiliations' being flaunted on all the mainstream media channels that the ordinary people face a serious risk of being almost told that defeat at an election in Britain no longer means that.

Last Friday's edition of the BBC2 programme 'NEWSNIGHT' promoted the voters-rejected candidate Oona King as if she had just come back from climbing Mount Everest! As had the Andrew Neill-fronted 'THIS WEEK' slot the previous night shown on BBC1. There is such an acceptance of this token of 'multiple ethnicities and affiliations' being flaunted on all the mainstream media channels that the ordinary people face a serious risk of being almost told that defeat at an election in Britain no longer means that. That backing the violent occupation of Iraq is an achievement that is worthy of being recognised by the token being given the promotion that Oona King has been being given.

The mainstream news outlets and their agenda-setters have yet to digest the particular row that occurred yesterday [Saturday 22 September 2007] between George Galloway the current MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and some members of the ‘Respect’ organisation.

I did not observe the event.

But I understand that George Galloway either threatened or is about to make public the threat to leave the organisation. Or to split off from them.

The question is: will NEWSNIGHT then interview Oona King again about that?

The answer is: they probably will. If not immediately but on a date not long after. And if it will not be NEWSNIGHT, Oona will be offered the choice of any of the other dozens of media platforms in the mainstream.

She does not have to show evidence of independent ETHICAL intelligence or integrity or dignity. All she has to do is to remain in the popular imagination fed by constant media and subliminal brainwashing as the Blair Babe who ‘lost’ to George Galloway! The truth is that she was rejected by the constituency because she was no good at telling the truth on the key issues that mattered to the constituency. There may be a series of books in what she was ousted about. Those books, yet to be published, may outsell anything Oona has been propped up to do with her post facto ‘diaries’. Oona can be any prime minister’s ‘babe’ in pursuit of her career at being ‘in the limelight’ on the reflected assumption that she was ‘an MP’ which in truth followed from her being foisted in 1997 upon the constituency as a result of a series of previous internal crimes and corruptions within what became the Blaired party in Tower Hamlets!


So what was the big row between Galloway and his ‘Respect’ organisation colleagues about?

It was about Galloway’s criticisms of certain of their members. But they did not say that. Not in so many words. What they did instead was to say things about Galloway that they had not said for at least 20 months.

Things that the Khoodeeaar! Campaign has been referring to.

Things like what do THEY do to show that they have been in solidarity with the community?

Who created the mess over the theft and loss of UK Bangladeshis’ money stolen via ‘First Solution’?

Who gave credibility to the Blaired Party operatives that had infiltrated ‘RESPECT’ and even became candidates in some places as ‘RESPECT’ ones at the last local Council elections?

Who would have voted for THEIR candidate in Shadwell had THEY succeeded?

Who are THEY?

They are the very ones that have not been giving any publicity to any stance – if they have any stance- to some of the most urgent issues and causes in the local community in Tower Hamlets.

THEY are the ones who have given misleading accounts of what is happening in the local community to George Galloway.
They say that they are not happy with the Galloway appearance on the Channel 4 Big Brother show in January 2006. But they are rewriting history.

They did not acknowledge the work that Khoodeeaar! Has done to RESTORE all their credibility because none of them had the moral courage to come out and make public one single thing that they could say about that.

The only thing they did say – and long after the Blairing propaganda onslaught had died down, was so muted and so inconsequential that it does not warrant repetition.

Khoodeelaar! Has made clear all along that as the local MP for the Bethnal Green and Bow area, Galloway deserved to be given the information about what the community needed and wanted. We have given more than 300 communications intending them to be drawn to Galloway’s attention. We have not seen those acknowledged.

Who hid them?

Who suppressed those?

What did the ‘RESPECT’ ‘party’ organisation do with those?

Who was it that decided to shore up some of the most discredited and corrupt individuals associated with the Blair outfits in Tower Hamlets and give those positive platforms and space via the ‘RESPECT’ organisation?

Who decided to not oppose CrossRail?

Who told Galloway to stop talking against Crossrail?

Galloway gave his own presentation or representation of his petition formally before the ‘select committee’ in June 2006. Where were the ‘RESPECT’ organisation then?

Galloway was accompanied by only one member of his staff [who might or might not be one of the RESPECT central organisation then].


ALL the others present in the Committee room were Khoodeeaar! Campaigners against Crossrail or other petitioners against Crossrail and a local councillor [for part of the time].

Why have none of the ‘central’ ‘RESPECT’ members [other than the named councillors whom we have named already] been present at the Khoodeeaar! Demonstrators against Crossrail since April 2006?

Why have they not mentioned the campaign against Crossrail in any of the 200 or so particular ‘letters’ that they sent to the ‘local’ East London Idiotiser?

The only ones that have ever been present have had to be repeatedly invited to attend.

So when Galloway made dozens of statements against Crossrail during the months of February, March and April 2006 [up to at least 9 April 2006], did he do so in the knowledge that the ‘RESPECT” ‘party’ members who are now poised to give Oona King the pleasure of being given some ‘real facts’ to celebrate about helping to sink Galloway, were not ain agreement with him on that?

Did they therefore pretend to be against CrossRail when all the while they were in agreement with Ken Livingstone and wanted the £Billions to be made available to Big Business?

They have NOT followed as supporters ANY local campaigns organised and maintained by ordinary members of the community against the Blairing corrupot Tower Hamlets council.

Is that because they think that they know better than the local community?

There are MORE things that THEY have in common with the BLAIRED Party clique now in control of Tower Hamlets Council and of the party positions beyond than would appear from some of the slogans.


THAT is why the ‘RESPECT’ organisation will not survive any dramatic split that may yet take place between George Galloway whilst he is still an MP and the rest of the outfit that he helped to create and publicise.


[To be continued]

AADHIKARonline in association with Khoodeelaar! No to Crossrail hole Bill
- e-mail: aadhikarlaw@yahoo.co.uk