George Galloway in Conversation with Yvonne Ridley

THE MUSLIM WEEKLY 2004
A church in Bloomsbury providing the setting for Bookmarks (a socialist bookshop) to launch ' I'm Not the Only One' written by George Galloway who presented himself to discuss the book. Putting the questions was award-winning journalist Yvonne Ridley.

At the outset, Mr. Galloway described the emphasis of the book being on the Anti-War movement which has manifested itself in Nine Marches post 9/11 and taking inspiration from John Lennon's unforgettable 'Imagine all the people'.

He felt flabbergasted at Adam Ingram's (Minister of State for the Armed Forces) vain attempt to put an injunction on the book at a cost of £25,000, which he hoped was his own money. Other twists were involved when an 'expert break-in' to his home in the Algarve (Portugal) culminated in his whole study disappearing. Nothing came of the ensuing enquiry leaving him to conclude that it was a 'political theft'. This drama led to him having to retreat to Lebanon in order to re-write/complete the book.

The allegation of him being funded by Saddam's regime was an obvious question to follow. George described his dismay at a Pullitzer prize winning Christian newspaper in the US, deciding to have a front cover splashed out in 93 countries based on a story that was bogus. After forensic evidence had proved his innocence, he asked Mr.Blair on five occasions to take action on a conspiracy to defame a British MP without success.

This was led by a vitriolic outburst describing the Prime Minister as a "blood-soaked criminal drowning in a sea of deceit. He is the biggest liar ever to occupy high office in the UK"

The War on Iraq being the main course of the book (so to speak), Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke and Bob Woodward (all ex-advisers of Bush in varying capacities) were found to claim that Bush had decided on invading Iraq in February 2002 and gained consent of Blair in March 2002 at that Ranch in Crawford Texas. Thus, everything said by Blair subsequently vis-à-vis the UN etc. was an outright lie in Mr. Galloway's opinion.

Deviating onto the domestic front, he predicted worse was forthcoming for Labour if Mr.Blair perseveres as personal, family and political pressure mount. Furthered by the Prescott/Brown Jaguar rendezvous, it is all leading up to a long hot summer of discontent.

Puppets (referring to the Iraqi Governing Council) who are heavily fortified and protected within Baghdad by American troops no less, are being hunted relentlessly by the Iraqi public. June 30th would essentially be Americans moving away from the streets and cities and concentrating on the oil fields cum military barracks while they overlook civil society from afar. Mr. Galloway substantiated the above with an observation of Robert Laper (UK foreign policy advisor) who called for a "New benign Imperialism". Quoting George Orwell, 'Imperialism is stealing other people's things'.

Sidetracking again towards the current Labour cabinet, he described John Prescott being used by Mr.Blair as a working-class mascot. Further pointing out that many within the Cabinet have swung from the left to the right of the political spectrum, citing the example of Alistair Darling who used to be a bearded Troskyite before his re-incarnation.

In the audience, when asked about whether Zionists and Christian Fundamentalists were colluding together, he replied that you can not look at geo-politics within a prism. Explaining that Israel was created by Balfour as part of an imperialistic settler state in the midst of the energy-rich gulf region.

The final question was allowed for yours truly and I asked whether his ideological stance would have been any different if he had become a cabinet minister himself to which he replied that, it is not the nominal pen-pushers who get remembered in history. Alluding to?