Ten Facts About George Galloway

Now, of course, there are more than ten facts about George Galloway M.P. (as of March 29th) that could be listed here. I could, for instance, tell you his mother's maiden name (can't find it) or his favourite London restaurant (certain to serve halal cuisine). These facts, of course, are mere trivia. Not only that, Mr Galloway reacts angrily to inaccurate information about himself - he once sued the Daily Telegraph and has sued others for libel. So, the facts listed below are all accurate, and in the public domain. Having said that, of course, Mr Galloway will say that there's another side to the story, and he's being misrepresented. Here goes:
1. Mr Galloway publicly praised Sadaam Hussain before the dictator's demise.
"Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability, and I want you to know that we are with you, hatta al-nasr, hatta al-nasr, hatta al-Quds [until victory, until victory, until Jerusalem]".
2. In defence of the Chinese government, he is on record as saying that the horrific Tiananmen Square Massacre never took place. Please see this link.
3.He has denied that gays and lesbians are persecuted in Iran, despite an abundance of evidence to show that it is happening. Please see him on this subject.
4.He is a presenter on Press TV, the propaganda outlet for the tyranny that rules Iran.
5. Hezbollah, according to George Galloway, is not a terrorist organisation. As Hezbollah is trained and financed by Iran, one wonders if that has influenced his viewpoint.
6. He was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 for violating the party constitution. Please read this article from the Guardian.
7.For a supposed left-wing firebrand, he seems reluctant to join the working class. As he once told "The Scotsman" : "I couldn't live on three workers' wages"
8. He voted against the lowering of the homosexual age of consent. To be fair, it would not have gone down well with Press TV if he had voted for it.
9. Because of his support for Hamas, he was banned from entering Canada in 2009.
10. He presents a radio programme on TalkSPORT. I have only listened to this programme once. On that occasion, George read letter after letter from his admirers. Other people might like that sort of thing, but it's not for me.
Mr Galloway recently married again for the fourth time (although his third wife claims they are still married). I wish the bride and groom every happiness. I wonder, though: did they spend their honeymoon in China or Iran?

The Far Right and a "Big Question" Unanswered

Yesterday, I watched the latest edition of the BBC religious affairs programme, "The Big Questions". For those who have never seen this programme, it is a discussion forum, hosted by Nicky Campbell, where some highly sensitive issues are debated, sometimes heatedly, by proponents of diverse points of view. Yesterday's programme, which you can watch by clicking on the link, featured a topic in which I have more than a passing interest: "Is Britain complacent about the far right?". If I had seriously hoped for an answer to that big (and perhaps unanswerable) question, I was disappointed.
What happened instead was a protracted, and sometimes highly acrimonious, discussion about the activities of the English Defence League (EDL) and their anti-Islamist views. The EDL leader, Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley Lennon), exchanged "pleasantries" with Muslims and anti-fascist academics. I do not intend to go over the content of the debate - those interested can watch the programme via the link given above - but I have to say that the original question under discussion was not answered. I admit that the programme showed that Britain does not appear to be complacent about the EDL, but this is not as significant as might be thought.
While I do not agree with the anti-Islamic "views" of the EDL, I must point out that the EDL does not fit the traditional profile of far-right parties. The EDL declares this, of course, but a comparison is useful here. Firstly, the EDL does not embrace national socialist ideology. Tommy Robinson has publicly burned a Nazi flag; EDL members fly Israeli flags on their marches; the EDL boasts of having Jewish, black, Hindu and Sikh members; Robinson himself has been involved in fistfights with Combat 18, and says that he receives more death threats from neo-nazis than from Jihadis (see the programme).
I know that this is not the whole story, and does not excuse the EDL's attempts to stir up community strife. I also know that there ARE neo-nazis in the EDL membership, who are watching for their chance to hijack the organisation. But the very fact that they are not a neo-nazi grouping makes for a different debate. For example, during yesterday's programme, one Muslim spokesperson invited Tommy Robinson to have dinner with his family - and Robinson accepted! That would not have happened with John Tyndall, Martin Webster or Colin Jordan.
Which brings me to my main point - by focussing upon the EDL, the programme missed the fact that there is a  threat from the far right about which Britain is complacent. While the violent neo-nazi groups in this country are small and marginalised (though nonetheless vicious), it is a different story in Europe. The Front Nationale in France is growing in popularity, following the Toulouse murders. Racist murder is increasingly common in Russia, and the far right is increasingly aggressive in both Italy and Germany. None of this was discussed yesterday. Because of this, my answer to the question "Is Britain complacent about the far right?" is a firm "Yes". We ignored the rise of Fascism in the 1930s, and we paid dearly enough for that.