Galloway running for London mayor?

[faceless]

I'm sure most of you will have heard Galloway hinting last night that he might be running for the London mayor position in the next election. As soon as I heard it I thought 'Not a chance!', but on reading this article from Socialist Worker it seems clear that Galloway is going against Respect's 'constitution' by not supporting Lindsey German, which bothers me a lot. He knew all along what the SWP were like, so why start the coalition in the first place? Was it political expediency or was he just simply using them when it suited?

Whatever's going on, I think it's only fair to say that it's a bloody shambles.

[faceless]

George Galloway Splits From Respect
3 November, 2007 - 15:30
Tom Unterrainer
www.workersliberty.org


George Galloway and his supporters have split from Respect. After a week in which he has tried to pretend that the SWP and other socialists were leaving Respect he has announced a rival conference on the same day as the Respect national conference.

The split conference, under the name Respect Renewal, does not have the support of the majority of Respect members nor has it been authorised or endorsed by any of the elected bodies of Respect.

George Galloway has chosen to ignore the resolutions from Respect branches around the country demanding that the Respect conference go ahead. The attempt by Linda Smith and Salma Yaqoob earlier this week to call off the long planned Respect annual conference failed because most rank and file members demanded that it go ahead.

George Galloway's response has been to try and split the organisation by calling a separate conference. He has failed to win votes at the national officers meetings or to put his call to a national council. He fears he will not have the support of a majority at a the Respect conference.

Every Respect member should support the original and properly delegated conference. No other conference will be a delegate body with the authority to speak for Respect members. We remain committed to the radical, democratic principles of Respect as it was first founded.

--------------------

That would explain my earlier question then...

[popinjay]

I'm behind Galloway, no matter what. Respect are nothing without him.

[luke]

respect won't have any money without the swp

i think all this is a real shame

[faceless]

I'm thinking to just see Galloway as a media-pundit and not as a serious MP.

[Mandy]

George uses the media to spread his message. Being an MP is just another platform to try and change things .. but if that platform is so closed then trying to exploit all media opportunities is a good way to spread the word.

[faceless]

He's lost a fair amount of respect from me - and I'm not alone in that. Maybe he should retire completely from politics, that way he can't be accused of having a particular bias.

[luke]

i had an email today from the new respect 'renewal'

[faceless]

Locks changed on Respect office
03/11/2007

Overnight the locks were changed on the Respect national office. This action excludes most National Officers, the national office staff and the majority of Respect members who support them from their own organisation's headquarters. In recent days Respect branches all around the country have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Respect conference going ahead. This coup is obviously meant to prevent democratic debate continuing in Respect and to rob the membership of their own organisation. The immediate effect of this action is to prevent Respect from intervening effectively in today's NHS demonstration.

The Respect coalition nationally pays over half the rent, rates and bills of the office which is shared with the constituency party. We call on all Respect members to demand Linda Smith, the chair of Respect, and George Galloway reverse this disastrous course of action.

Please protest to gallowayg@parliament.uk, lindablackpool@hotmail.com

Please send a copy of your protest to office@respectcoalition.org

Yours in solidarity,

John Rees, National Secretary
Elaine Graham Leigh, National Treasurer
Councillor Oli Rahman, Tower Hamlets
Councillor Michael Lavelette, Preston

---------------------

[luke]

they're worse than a couple going through a divorce - the media and other political parties are going to love this

[faceless]

I just looked at the renewal site and see that it's made by a german company - http://noellexa.de/ - could they not find someone local to do the work?

[popinjay]

Maybe you should offer, face.

[faceless]

Considering the way that things have been organised before now, I can't imagine they're paying the going rate. It should be a a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and all that jazz!

[popinjay]

They're actually the richest political party in the UK. Didn't you hear about all that money Galloway got from Saddam?

[faceless]

Galloway denies quitting Respect

Paul Owen
Thursday November 8, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

George Galloway today denied claims he had quit his anti-war Respect party amid bitter infighting between rival factions of the organisation. But as civil war erupted within the party and those opposed to Mr Galloway claimed to have been locked out of their offices during the dispute, the maverick MP confirmed he would be hosting a rival party conference on the same day as Respect's official gathering.

The move sparked a claim on the official Respect party website that Mr Galloway had split from the party - an allegation the MP's spokesman vehemently denies. Speaking on Mr Galloway's behalf, John McKay told Guardian Unlimited: "It's not true [that Galloway has left the party]. The truth is that John Rees [Respect's national secretary] and crew, the SWP faction, are the ones that have split."

But Mr McKay confirmed that Mr Galloway was organising a rival party conference called Respect Renewal on the same day as the "official" Respect conference in London on November 17. The MP's conference will take place in the City of London, while Respect's conference will be held at the University of Westminster. Mr Rees said today that Mr Galloway's decision to set up a rival conference meant that he had left the party.

"I think under most people's definition that would be leaving an organisation," he said. "I think if the official Labour conference were taking place, and, for some reason, say Jack Straw decided to call his own conference on the same day, set up his own website, with a different name and his own email, people would assume that he had left the party."

Asked if Respect could continue without Mr Galloway, Mr Rees said: "There was always going to have to be a time when we would ... No matter how much of a contribution any individual makes to a political party, there is always a time when it has to continue without particular individuals and carry on." He said that "very few" members had left over this dispute, and did not rule out standing as an MP himself in the future.

Respect - formed in 2004 as a coalition of Muslim and far-left groups opposed to the Iraq war - has in recent months become increasingly divided. Tension have arisen between Mr Galloway and a number of Muslim and anti-war supporters on the one hand, with a Socialist Workers party faction led by Mr Rees on the other.

The dispute seems to have moved up a gear since the autumn. Last week, Respect claimed Mr Galloway's supporters had changed the locks on the party's national office in east London, which was shared between the party and the MP, leading Mr Rees to call on Mr Galloway to "reverse this disastrous course of action". But Mr McKay said: "The locks have been changed because the parliamentary rules in terms of financing insist that the office can only be constituency office for the MP and it cannot be a party political office."

Meanwhile, on Mr Galloway's website, the former Labour MP and 26 supporters posted a statement claiming that "the actions of the SWP leadership imperil the very existence of Respect as a broad, pluralistic and democratic left alternative to New Labour". The statement said that the conflict had escalated after Mr Galloway's attempts to introduce a new post of national organiser "to work alongside" Mr Rees, resulting in expulsions from the SWP and disputes over party personnel.

Mr Galloway is Respect's only MP. He was expelled from the Labour party in 2003 after making a series of anti-war comments. He was elected to represent Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 but will be standing in Poplar and Limehouse at the next election.