
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954 in Dundee) is a Scottish politician,author and talkshow host noted for his left-wing views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1987 and currently represents Respect for the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency. He was previously a Labour Party MP for Glasgow Hillhead and for Glasgow Kelvin.Galloway is perhaps best known for his vigorous campaign to overturn economic sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s and early 2000s and to avert the 2003 invasion of that country. He made visits there in 1994 and 2002. As part of a speech in his 1994 visit in which Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in attendance, he said "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability", although Galloway has always claimed that he was addressing the Iraqi people. In his 2002 visit, as war talk and claims of weapons of mass destruction filled the airwaves, he said "we are determined that we are going to do everything we can to stop this rush over the cliff."He was later accused by a U.S. Senate Committee led by Norm Coleman of personally profiting from abuses of UN Oil-for-Food programme. He combatively countered the charges by accusing Coleman and other pro-war politicians of covering up the "theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth... on your watch" that had occurred under a post-invasion Coalition Provisional Authority, committed by "Halliburton and other American corporations... with the connivance of your own government." He was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 when a party body decided that similarly strong statements he had made in opposition to the invasion had brought the party into disrepute.In January 2004, Galloway made his comeback as a founding member of Respect, a new political coalition to the left of Labour, in association with the Socialist Workers Party and other left-wing groups, anti-Iraq war activists such as Salma Yaqoob, and other figures on the British left such as film director Ken Loach. He won his seat in the 2005 general election, the first time Respect had contested a Parliamentary election. On 3 November 2007, the Socialist Workers' Party claimed that Galloway had announced he was splitting from Respect after an internal dispute. Galloway denied this, and together with Respect chair Linda Smith, Vice Chair Salma Yaqoob and sixteen other members of the National Council, issued an invitation to a Respect Renewal conference, organized on the same day and time as the scheduled Respect conference.On 17 July 2007, Galloway was censured by the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges, which recommended his suspension from the House for 18 days for "his unwillingness to cooperate fully with the Commissioner, and his calling into question of the Commissioner's and our own integrity have in our view damaged the reputation of the House". In response, Galloway commented: "Once more and yet again I have been cleared of taking a single penny or in any way personally benefiting from the former Iraqi regime through the oil for food programme or any other means ... What really upset them is that I always defend myself.". On July 23, 2007, during a debate on the Committee's recommendation, Galloway was ordered out of the House of Commons by the Speaker after making repeated attacks on the integrity of officers of the House.