Galloway accused of breaching protocol

[faceless]

George Galloway accused of breaching parliamentary protocol
Jonathan Isaby
Daily Telegraph blog
July 18, 2008

News of an unseemly spat between Respect MP, George Galloway, and Greg Hands, the Tory MP for Hammersmith and Fulham. Galloway stands accused of failing to follow parliamentary protocol for not informing Hands that he was speaking at the recent Islam Expo at Olympia in his constituency.

Hands wrote to the Bethnal Green and Bow MP seeking an explanation for the apparent "breach of the conventions and courtesies of the House". Galloway's reply was cavalier to say the least. "Dear Mr. Hands (whoever you are)," it began. "I speak in one part or another of Britain almost every day of the week. I have neither the time nor the inclination to check whose constituency I'm speaking in. I do hope you are not claiming any parliamentary allowances for writing such a preposterous letter," he concluded.

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I seem to remember GG having words to say about some other MP who was speaking in his constituency sometime in the last 6 months...

[luke]

thats what i thinking as i read it ... he did complain at the time

[major.tom]

Thirded. It definitely rings a bell.

...though in general, the idea of 'protocol' seems somewhat repugnant to me. It's a way of obliging you to show respect for people who may or (quite often) may not actually deserve any. (eg. her queenship)

[nekokate]

I'm with GG on this one. When you speak as often as George the idea of notifying the member of parliament for each district you happen to be in is bullshit. It's about as pathetic as having to address people as "the right honourable gentleman".

If the MP for a certain area has a specific objection to another politician appearing then it should be up to him to monitor where he is.

I've never heard of Mr Hands either. He sounds (in the words of George) like he's not even a legend in his own house.

[faceless]

It's not the point about observing protocol that bothers me - but the fact that GG complained about the very same thing not too long ago.

[ItzMeRon]

That "Protocol" is retarded and was probably written by something of a Neo-Con.

[mickyv]

It's not the first time Galloway has spoken at the Islam Expo in Olympia.

Galloway responded in a fitting way to a cheap & ridiculous attempt to attack him.

The difference between this situation & the one that Galloway was referring to, was (although I can't remember who exactly it was), was that the MP who spoke in his constituency was I believe a prominent Government Minister, who has ample staff to notify to local MPs everytime, and indeed does not travel the country making even a fraction of the speeches GG does.

If this "protocol" was indeed strictly followed then Hands might have something to complain about, rather then coming over as making a fool of himself over petty point scoring, and ending up with egg over his face after being "Gallowayed" !

[faceless]

It doesn't take lots of staff to make one phonecall to the constituency office of any MP when you've been booked months in advance.

[nekokate]

I've remembered who it was. It was when Tony Blair was visiting and speaking in some hospitals in Bethnal Green.

[faceless]

cheers Kate.

[faceless]

I'd been thinking that because Olympia was an international centre that it was less likely to fall under the terms of the protocol as the people visiting tend not to be local consituents... so it was good to read the rest of this.

[faceless]

Greg Hands hits back at George Galloway
July 21, 2008, 07:33 PM

Another day and another chapter in the burgeoning row between Respect MP, George Galloway, and Conservative MP, Greg Hands. In his letter to the Tory backbencher last week, not only did Galloway fail to apologise for not telling Hands he was speaking in his constituency, but he mocked him, claiming not to know who he was.

Hands has now hit back, saying he is not surprised Galloway doesn't recognise him.

"In the last year you have participated in only two debates in the Commons Chamber... and attended only 10 votes [now 12] in the House so far in 2008," states Hands's latest missive. I note, however, your voting record has improved somewhat since recording precisely zero votes in the latter half of 2007," he adds.

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He has a bleating point, but in Galloway's defence, it's quite hard to identify one sheep from another...

[luke]

for anyone who wondered what he looks like ...



you can check his site at http://www.greghands.com/ which they've fucked up and made massively wide

[faceless]

haha, he looks like he was made in a Toryboy factory!

the site works ok in IE, but that's no excuse...

[major.tom]