Massacre in the Mediterranean

Viva Palestina founder George Galloway released the following statement today:

"Israel has massacred unarmed peace activists aboard a flotilla taking emergency aid to the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza. This is a watershed that will change the perception of the world, as Sharpeville and Soweto did to the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

"It unmasks Israel which no-one can now consider a member of the 'international community' but is rather a rogue state, a pariah state.

"The embargo and blockade of Gaza must be brought to an end. This has been underwritten by the United States, by Britain and the European Union, but this has got to end now."

Progressive Politics after the General Election

The battle for our public services has begun. The new ConDem government has pledged to impose devastating cuts on public spending. The plans to reduce the deficit will be accelerated, with the burden falling on public spending rather than increased taxes for the better off.

Already, more than £6 billion of cuts have been announced with more to follow in the next four months as the coalition government builds its confidence. The economic crisis in the Eurozone and its effect on the British banking system is fuelling the increased pace of public service cutbacks.

The programme of the new government amounts to one of the most severe attacks in British history on public services, jobs and the living standards of working people and the poor. To minimise resistance and to strengthen itself, the government plans to rewrite the rules to force further coalition government in the event of failure rather than calling a new general election (the 55% rule). Cameron aims to reduce the number of MPs in a move that is widely believed will cost Labour up to 40 seats. The coalition has also pledged to ‘pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove big money from politics’.

Letter to the East London Advertsiser

I congratulate my successor Rushanara Ali on her successful election and wish her all the best. If not for Respect's victory in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005, Oona King would have held the seat for thirty years and the British Bangladeshis might never have had their first MP.

Congratulations also to Jim Fitzpatrick on his substantial victory in Poplar and Limehouse, and to Labour for its victory in the council. I hope this Labour council will be free of the pressure and manipulation to which the previous was subject by regional officials who don't live in the borough. 

East End Press Conference

There will be a Respect Party press conference with George Galloway and Abjol Miah tomorrow (Thursday 13th May) at 1.00pm. They will be talking about the election results, the new coalition government and the future of Respect and taking questions from the press.

Venue: 85 Bigland Street, London E1 2ND

All press welcome

George goes to Hollywood

George Galloway, the former Labour and Respect MP, whose 23 year tenure in the House of Commons ended last week, intends to launch a new career in Hollywood as a presenter of documentary films.

He plans to emulate Michael Moore, the American left-wing film-maker. His first project will be a movie about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

Read full story in The Sunday Times here

After the election - some thoughts and some thanks

By Clive Searle, Respect Party National Secretary

Firstly, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone who worked so hard in the election campaign across the country. We could not have asked for greater effort or dedication from candidates, members and supporters. Our supporters certainly cannot be criticised for a lack of effort or commitment.

But there is no hiding from reality. The 2010 General Election was not a good day for Respect. We had hoped to add to our single MP, two more in Abjol Miah and Salma Yaqoob. Instead we are reduced to none. Electoral politics is a brutal game - and where you can win elections you can just as easily lose them.

Everyone will naturally be disappointed. We are still awaiting all the council results in Tower Hamlets but they are unlikely to change the general picture. It appears that our core vote has been swamped by the huge increase in turnout. 

Results for Poplar and Limehouse

Jim Fitzpatrick Labour 18,679 40%

Tim Archer Conservative 12,649 27.1%

George Galloway Respect-Unity Coalition 8,160 17.5%

Jonathan Fryer Liberal Democrat 5,209 11.2%

Wayne Lochner UK Independence Party 565 1.2%

Andrew Osborne English Democrats 470 1%

Chris Smith Green 449 1%

Kabir Mahmud Independent 293 0.6%

Mohammed Hoque Independent 167 0.4%

Jim Thornton Independent 59 0.1%

Majority 6,030

Turnout 46,700 62.3

Thank you to all our supporters

The polls have now closed and we await the results. Respect would like to say a big thank you to all our members and supporters who have worked so hard over the last few weeks to give people a real choice at the election.

We will publish the results as soon as we are able.

Every vote counts - help elect Respect

We're campaigning up to the wire in Poplar and Limehouse. We need a strong voice for the East End, which George Galloway is best able to supply. When George speaks everyone listens. We need investment not jobs and every vote matters in this election.

Election day Thursday May 6th from 7am-10pm 
Volunteers will be needed all day on Thursday May 6 to mobilize the vote and staff polling stations. Contact the office to find out how you can help on 07814 434 939 and 0793 178 8759

Galloway demands action over election fraud

To the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Tower Hamlets Returning Officer and the General Secretary of the Labour Party

Dear Sir Paul Stephenson, Ms Jenny Watson, Dr Kevan Collins and Mr Ray Collins,

It is now clear that the elections in Tower Hamlets have been subject to widespread postal vote tampering and voting fraud. I first wrote tot he authorities on April 6th to express my profound concerns about the subversion of the democratic process here. Unfortunately, those well-founded concerns have met with staggering complacency, a complacency all the more remarkable for the fact that it is widely known this borough’s elections have been undermined by fraud at least for the last six years since New Labour’s hegemony was first challenged by Respect.

Independent journalist attacked on trail of voter fraud

"I explained I was a journalist for The Independent looking to speak to a man at an address in the area, who was standing as a candidate in the local elections, about allegations of postal vote fraud. "Can we see your note pad," the boy asked.

"I declined and then the first punch came – landing straight on my nose, sending blood and tears streaming down my face. Then another. Then another."

 Read the full story in the Independent here.
Read more about potential voter fraud in the Daily Mail here

Respect says postal ballot and voter registration fraud is a serious threat to our electoral process. End postal ballots on demand. Defend the secret vote - at the ballot box..

Aiming to rewrite a tale of two cities

George Galloway scored a notable upset at the last general election, defeating Oona King in Bethnal Green & Bow, and he is confident of inflicting defeat on another new Labour pro-war representative this Thursday.

He promised in 2005 to step down in favour of a local candidate, being replaced as Respect candidate by Abjol Miah this time and taking up cudgels against former Trotskyite firefighter turned new Labour minister Jim Fitzpatrick.

Galloway sees his opponent for Poplar and Limehouse as someone who "was and remains, to my astonishment, an absolute supporter of the war in Iraq."

Read the full story in the Morning Star here