Galloway cools on by-election battle

GEORGE Galloway appeared to back away from forcing a by-election yesterday on his first visit to his constituency since he was expelled from the Labour party.

Galloway, who was thrown out for inciting British troops to disobey orders and Arab troops to fight coalition forces in Iraq, said if he resigned his Glasgow Kelvin seat he would be making local party activists choose immediately between him and their Labour membership.

He also admitted he might not win the seat if he stood as an independent, but claimed the official Labour candidate would not win either.

Galloway had been expected to make a decision yesterday on whether he would force a by-election or hang on to his seat until the next general election, but instead he put off the decision until later this week.

He has attracted support from anti-war campaigners for his outspoken comments against the invasion of Iraq. But outside his constituency office yesterday local Labour members were split over whether the man who saluted Saddam Hussein’s "courage, your strength, your indefatigability" in 1994 should remain their MP.

Galloway spent yesterday afternoon in talks with members of his local constituency party to gauge the scale of support before deciding whether to give up the seat and trigger what is likely to be a bitter contest.

He acknowledged that standing as an independent could effectively split the local party, with any members who backed his candidature facing automatic expulsion.

"Were there to be a by-election then I would immediately be forcing my friends to choose between their Labour party membership and helping me, because certainly Mr Blair would expel them in those circumstances, so that’s certainly one of the things I will be considering," he said.

"If I were to resign the constituency and there was a by-election, I can’t guarantee that I would win, but I would guarantee that Tony Blair’s candidate would surely lose.

"I would prefer either myself or a Labour candidate to win, but New Labour is so unpopular in Glasgow and the constituency party that I can guarantee that if I didn’t win it, they wouldn’t win either. In fact they would struggle to finish third."

Galloway maintained that a by-election was still a "live option and a serious option". But he added: "I won’t be making any definitive announcement until the middle of the week. I will be assessing the situation with some of my closest colleagues and taking soundings.

"There are other serious options - legal action, for example, against the Labour party at the High Court in London. Rule 2a (8) guarantees that a member may not be expelled for the mere expression of their views and opinions. I’ve not been accused of having done anything, I’ve been accused of saying something they didn’t like."

The MP was upbeat about support among local people, claiming to have received 1,500 e-mail messages since his expulsion as well as scores of letters and phone calls.

A key question will be how many party workers will be prepared to tear up their membership cards and back an independent Galloway campaign.

Constituency chairman Mark Craig - a fierce critic of the Labour establishment’s treatment of the MP until now - is said to be leaning towards siding with the party in order to stop the SNP or Lib Dems snatching the seat.

However, Craig has also said he would support Galloway if he waited until the next general election and contested the new Glasgow Central seat, where he could come up against Govan MP Mohammed Sarwar.

Constituents who gathered outside Galloway’s constituency office in Argyle Street were united in their desire to see a by-election but not over their MP’s record.

Shahbaz Chaudry, 34, called on voters to take the opportunity to oust Galloway over his support for Saddam Hussein’s regime. He said: "When I saw that speech he made to Saddam Hussein saying ‘you’re a wonderful man’, that made me physically ill. To me that’s like saying to Hitler, ‘It’s okay you killed four million Jews.’

"I think it’s time he moved on and let somebody in who wants to help people in this area."

But Nike Fakune, originally from Nigeria, said: "If he stood as an independent candidate he would come out victorious because people want him. George is doing his work for everybody. He is colour blind."

Betty Brown, who has been a Labour party member for seven years, said:

"I think he would win. I remember the big marches out in Glasgow against the war and a lot of people support him."

Last night a Labour party insider said: "All I can say is bring him on. We’re not scared of him. He has done nothing for the Labour party in the area.

"He’s nothing but a liability. He has a nice job and a nice salary as an MP because of hard-working Labour members and a Labour leadership which has caught people’s imagination. Not much to do with him.

"We’re better off without him. The guy just causes trouble. I’d sooner have the Nats or the Libs take the seat - couldn’t be worse than him."

However, a Labour MSP supportive of Galloway said: "This is damaging and pointless. There were lots of anti-war MPs and MSPs. I was one. Why throw him out?"