Kicking Them where It Hurts.

Occasionally, we comment on events beyond the parish bounderies and today isone such occasion.   I feel the victory of George Galloway in The Bradford West by election overnight deserves some comment.

I make no secret of the fact that I have little time for Gallowat as a person.  Whilst I am sympathetic ro his views on Palestine and on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when it comes to actually building movements in support of the causes he supports, Galloway is congenitally incapable of doing so.  Every cause becomes a vehicle for Galloway the self publicist and an opportunity for him to tour the world accepting hospitality from some of the  most dubious leaders on the planet.  Whilst I have no time for US foriegn policy, I do not, asa Galloway seems to, consider that every leader who opposes US and its allies, military adventures are  necessarily heroes of the anti imperialist movement.

Its also worth noting that, when it comes to actually influencing events through the political process, Galloway has proved a consistant failure. He was not noted for being a sucessful leader of Dundee City Council and was a poor constituancy MP both in Glasgow Kelvin, and after his expulsion from the Labour party as Respect MP on Tower Hamlets.  He built few effective alliances when in parliament, preferring to operate as a one man band His Respect party has never developed as anytghing more then a support network for his ego and has mainly been the preserve of activists from the Muslim comminity. There seems no reason to think he will be any more successful as the MP for Bradford West then he has been elsewhere.

What then does the Bradford East by election tell us ?. The columnist, Steve Richards, speaking on Radio 4 this mornung, saw Galloway's victory as a continuing part of growing mass disillusionment with the main parties that has been slowly growing for years and is illustrated by the Nuck Clegg phenomenon at the last general election and the rise of the SNP on scotland. I think you also have to add to that, the continuing success of the Green Party in establishing iyself in some areas The success of UKIP in the european elections as well as, unfortunately, the election of two BNP mep's at the same time.   There is a growing anger, I believe, both on the left and the right of the political spectrum at a political establishment that increasingly appears to be interested in talking to itself and consulting the piblic only to the extent of getting the answersit has already determined. It is also an establishment that has no interest in any agenda that deviates from pro finance capital, pro US agendas.

From a Left perspective, there is a crying need for an anti austerity, anti war party that will formulate and develop alternative economic and social policies to those on offer at the moment. Most other european countries have such parties who have had greater or lesser electoral succes, but admittedly the British electoral systen is heavily weighted to the rise of political parties beyond those established already.  Bradford West afain shows  potential for support for such a party, but the record of Galloway and his allies gives little hope that his victory will aid the processes that would allow such a party to emerge.