spinoff

Well, Mr Extreme Reactions has done it again. The demagogue of the East End, Mr Galloway, only two weeks after comprehensively giving the Labour party a bloody nose in Bethnal Green and Bow, is off campaigning for better housing, better education, childcare and benefits for his constituents. As Parliament opens, George Galloway is preparing with key party workers in his constituency to capitalise on Respect's success, and....

Ah. Well, no he isn't, actually. He's in Washington, defending himself against the charge that he received oil options from Saddam Hussein's regime as a reward for his support during the days of sanctions. He's already called the chair of the committee a 'lickspittle' (a peculiarly graphic word when heard in Mr Galloway's best derisive brogue) and told journalists to get a ringside seat for the hearing.

Mr Galloway has, it must be said, already won substantial damages against The Daily Telegraph for the same allegations - though of course, (a) the DT is appealing and (b) the Senate isn't covered by British libel law. And the Senate, of course, is also accusing M. Pasqua, and Mr Zhirinovsky, of the same thing.

Curiously, no Americans seem to be in the committee's line of fire, but that aside, and the fact that all us dedicated Galloway watchers will be glued to our sets to watch George give the committee a piece of his mind, Galloway's in a bit of a bind here.
Today is the State Opening of Parliament. He should be there, as the first MP of his party, as the representative of his constituency, at the opening of the new Parliament, not for the ceremonial (did you know that the imperial state crown has its own coach? And its own gentlemen ushers? I mean, really...), but because that's what his constituents elected him for.

There is an enormous well of support - or at least, preparedness to be convinced - for Galloway in his constituency. Anyone who has met him cannot fail to be overwhelmed by the force of his personality. This writer, at least, with some many years of political experience, has never met such a consummate politician, or such a commanding personality, as Mr Galloway. His voters liked that in him, and are prepared to see him in Washington defending himself. In fact, they'll even be proud to see him berating the Senate as if they were a gang of unruly children in a school playground. And he will, of course, be utterly convincing.

But sooner rather than later, his constituents will want to see him on the streets talking to them; in Parliament fighting for them; in the local press, talking about their issues - and above all, they will want to see immediate, discernable improvements in their borough.

Going to Washington may be something Mr Galloway feels he has to do. It's probably something his constituents want him to do. But what they want and need has to become part of his agenda, and swiftly. Bethnal Green & Bow is not Kelvinside, content to be a jumping-off point for Mr Galloway's fight against Labour, America, and the non-Galloway world. It is the poorest constituency in the poorest borough in Britain - and it needs its MP to be on the ground, making a difference. Very, very soon.

Don't stay too long in Washington, George.

Yours etc,

Spinoff.