Anti-independence party led by Vladimir 'Putin's court clown' George Galloway collapses

George Galloway’s anti-independence political vehicle, Alliance for Unity, has collapsed amid rising condemnation of the former Labour MP’s links with RT.

Mr Galloway, who was co-leader for ‘All4Unity’, was labelled Vladimir “Putin’s court clown”, an “apologist” and a “pathetic propagandist” by mainstream political parties amid condemnation of his continued appearance on the Russian controlled state-media RT.

The collapse of the party comes almost a year after it launched, branding itself as a unifying unionist movement that was best placed to tackle the SNP and prevent a second independence referendum.

George Galloway and Jamie Blackett(r) during the launch of the Alliance 4 Unity party's manifesto for the Scottish Parliamentary election in April 2021.

However, the party failed to see a single MSP elected and received 23,299 votes on the regional list, less than 1 per cent of the overall vote and half as much as fellow RT presenter Alex Salmond’s pro-independence party Alba.

On Twitter, Jamie Blackett, the former leader of All for Unity, said he condemned the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but did not comment on Mr Galloway’s links with RT.

He said the party “does not have and never has had a foreign policy/defence view”, and that he does not speak for Galloway.

Mr Blackett added: “But I am aware that his view of events is very different from mine. I believe some of his comments have been wrong and counter-productive. And therefore, in order to make it absolutely clear that I disagree, our alliance is at an end.

"Alliance4Unity ceased active party politics after the May election, but the desire to unite the pro-UK side of the argument remains and A4U will continue as a loose alliance of those of us who oppose the ugly nationalism of Nicola Sturgeon and her followers.

"One of our motivations was @georgegalloway's insight that an independent and therefore bankrupt Scotland would be driven into the arms of Russia and or China and that remains as true today as it did before last week.”

Mr Galloway has used his platform on RT to smear Alexei Navalny, Mr Putin’s main opponent, as a white supremacist while he was recovering from an assassination attempt, and blamed the conflict in Ukraine on the West and the USA.

Scottish Labour’s Neil Bibby told The Times that Mr Galloway was a “very dangerous fool”, adding he was “nothing less than Putin’s court clown”.

"He and Salmond continue to cast a dark shadow over Scottish politics,” he said.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said Mr Galloway’s “association with RT has lent legitimacy and influence to the propaganda apparatus of a hostile power,” adding “by acting as an apologist for Russian expansionist aggression, Galloway’s reputation lies in tatters, as does his political career”.

Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer praised the Scottish electorate for “so comprehensively” rejecting “this pathetic propogandist”.

The Scottish Conservatives described Mr Galloway as a “discredited figure who was emphatically rejected” at the ballot box.

The Scotsman has approached Mr Galloway for comment.

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