Foolish Error

27 October 2003


Labour Expels Glasgow MP, May Live to Regret It

The British Labour Party has obviously been in power too long because it is doing silly things. Last week, it expelled George Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin and a member of the party for 36 years, for disagreeing with Prime Minister Blair about Iraq. While the Honourable Gentleman is a loose cannon and an embarrassment in many ways, the Labour Party was downright stupid in kicking him out. Now, it has an enemy with nothing left to lose.

According to The Independent newspaper, the party claimed that Mr. Galloway "incited Arabs to fight British troops; he incited British troops to defy orders; he threatened to stand against Labour; he backed an anti-war candidate in Preston - all of which he was found guilty - and he incited Plymouth voters to reject Labour MPs." The same paper reports that Mr. Galloway responded by calling the disciplinary meeting a "kangaroo court" and Mr. Blair a "conspirator and a liar."

Fair enough, the two sides disagree, and probably something had to be done. Expulsion, though, to borrow a vulgarism from Lyndon Johnson, puts Mr. Galloway outside the tent pissing in rather than keeping him inside the tent pissing out. There is now no way to muzzle him. Worse, under the British system, he could resign his seat and force the government to fight him in a by-election. It would become a referendum on Messrs. Bush and Blair's war in Iraq.

Mr. Galloway won the seat in the last general election with 44.83% of the votes, 12014 out of 26,802, and his margin of victory was 7260. Moreover, he has the backing of the local branch of the party; the top man there, Mark Craig has offered his "full support" if Mr. Galloway runs against a Labour candidate. If Mr. Galloway won, it would be a crippling blow to Mr. Blair. Even if he lost, the troubles within the party won't end.

For example, Alice Mahon, MP, regarded the expulsion as "an attack on free speech," while John McDonnell, MP, said Labour "will be seen as flouting our tradition of democratic debate." Meanwhile, party chairman Ian McCartney said it was right to expel Mr. Galloway because he "incited foreign forces to rise up against British troops." Governments fall when they create lose-lose situations such as this, and Mr. Blair's success to date at keeping power has come from avoiding such scenarios.

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