Keeping the Flags Flying

With England out of Euro 2012 on penalties the flag-waving build up to the London Olympics begins in earnest. MARK PERRYMAN explores the changing shape of sports nationalism, and internationalism.

David Hemery burning his way round the track to victory in the 400m hurdles, Mexico 1968. Mary Peters defying gravity as she hauls her frame over the high jump bar to lift pentathlon Gold in Munich, 1972. David Wilkie winning in the pool, Montreal 1976. Coe and Ovett enjoying 1500m and 800m glory, Moscow 1980. Decathlete Daley Thompson acting the golden cheeky chappy, Los Angeles 1984. Great Britain beating Germany in the men’s hockey final, Seoul 1988. Christie and Gunnell triumphant on the track at Barcelona 1992. Steve Redgrave promising he’d never be seen near a boat again after winning his fourth straight Gold with Matthew Pinsent at Atlanta 1996, before doing precisely that to win his fifth and final Gold, once more with Pinsent, at Sydney 2000. Kelly Holmes grabbing an eye-popping 800m and 1500m golden double against all the odds in 2004. Hoy, Pendleton, Adlington and Ohuruogu leading Team GB’s Gold medal charge to fourth in the Beijing 2008 Medals Table.

Dewsbury: police refuse to ban EDL march

West Yorkshire Police will allow a controversial march by the English Defence League to go ahead tomorrow in Dewsbury, despite an appeal from MPs George Galloway and Mike Wood to ban it.

West Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Geoff Dodd, who is responsible for policing the EDL march, cited the Human Rights Act and the right to 'peaceful protest' by people.

However Bradford West MP Galloway responded: 'It's very clear from their previous outings that the EDL are anything but peaceful protestors. If they aren't a threat to public order then who on earth is? The police have the ability to apply to the Home Secretary for a banning order but will not do so. I think it's a grave mistake and I just hope Mr Dodd doesn't rue it on Sunday morning, because he has been warned.'

Galloway said that he was still undecided about whether to attend the counter-rally organised by Unite Against Fascism and the TUC.

Galloway greets return of Leeds/Bradford London air link

The restoration from December of a direct air link between Leeds Bradford airport and Heathrow has been welcomed by Bradford West MP George Galloway.

'This is good news indeed,' Galloway said. 'Anything that entices business and visitors to the area is to be welcomed. Also, of course, it makes links to continental destinations through Heathrow much easier. I expect to be a regular traveller between Bradford and the parliament in London.' He added: 'I've not been a great fan of BA chief executive Willie Walsh in the past but I congratulate him on restoring this vital link, which BMI abandoned in 2009.'

Galloway helps force government U-turn

The government, after repeatedly pledging it wouldn't do, performed another spectacular U-turn after pressure from a powerful group of MPs including George Galloway.

Chancellor George Osborne announced today that the proposed 3p rise in fuel duty, trailed in the 'omnishambles' budget, was to be scrapped. 'He clearly realised that he couldn't win in the House in the debate next week and rather than face defeat, caved in. It's great news for motorists and the transport industry and another massive failure by his government which is now a total laughing stock,' George Galloway said.

George Galloway was a sponsor of an amendment which would have have been debated next week and, if carried, would have ruled out the increase. 'It was clear that the Cameron government would face a massive defeat in the Commons and that our amendment would have won the day. This is yet another reverse in policy by a befuddled and completely out of touch government. It's another fine mess George Osborne has got his boss into. How long can this incompetent remain in power before the men in grey suits visit him with the resignation letter to sign?'

MPs call for ban on EDL march

MPs George Galloway and Mike Wood have called on West Yorkshire police commissioner Sir Norman Bettison to call off the English Defence League march on Saturday, June 30.

In a joint letter the MPs instance the trouble caused in Cleckheaton and beyond in the last EDL demonstration in March and raise concerns that this time it may be much worse.

'This history of trouble, attacks and arrests must dispel any claim the EDL has a legitimate right to march and it also demonstrates the potential for trouble to spill out into Spen Valley, Batley and indeed Bradford as all these places are on the way back from Dewsbury, should the same hard core venture out on the 30th,' the letter says.

The text is printed below.

Rethink on Council parking strategy needed

Bradford West MP George Galloway has urged Bradford MDC to retain a measure of free parking in the city centre for the benefit of local businesses.

'There are enough disincentives to shopping in the centre of Bradford, what with the hole in its heart and the Odeon in cling-film, making it even more difficult and costly to park should not be another,' George Galloway said. 'Out of town retail parks already offer free parking and if we are to encourage people to shop locally then one of the measures surely must be to offer the same, for a limited period, say 30 minutes. The council is already budgeting to double the income from city-centre parking and this dispensation, while I accept it might slightly reduce that additional revenue, would be more than compensated by the increased trade city centre shops would enjoy.'

The MP continued, 'We have to help maintain the businesses which are already suffering. The council does not get much revenue from shops which have boarded-up and gone away. I hope the Environment and Waste Committee take note of this in their discussions on this on Thursday.'

BRADFORD VOTERS ARE DIM, SAYS LABOUR MP

George Galloway is to ask Labour leader Ed Miliband to condemn remarks by Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman which imply that voters in Bradford West are stupid.

Sheerman is reported in the Huddersfield Examiner saying, 'This isn't Bradford West, we have a much more balanced population in Huddersfield. We have a much more intelligent electorate. People in Huddersfield are better informed and more integrated in British parliamentary democracy.'

Sheerman was reacting to news that Galloway's party, the Respect Party, will stand a candidate in his Huddersfield constituency at the next election.

'Does Ed Miliband endorse these statements from his MP, that basically Bradford voters are dim? I can't believe he would. There's also an unseemly racial note to them,' Galloway said. 'I'd also like to know if Bradford South Labour MP Gerry Sutcliffe agrees or disagrees.'

Sheerman was also quoted as making a series of egregious personal remarks about Galloway's personal life. 'I have no intention of engaging with Sheerman by responding to his contemptible attack,' the Bradford West MP said. 'As my old father used to put it, “You don't want to wrestle with a chimney sweep”.' But he did point out that he had more than 150,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook, 'which makes me very happy indeed'.

Galloway also denied, as Sheerman alleged, that he had been invited to two events held by the Parliamentary Group for Yorkshire and had not attended them. 'I've already written to Mr Sheerman telling him that I received no such invitations but that I'd be delighted to receive them in future.'

Free the Olympics

In this summer of Euro 2012 and the London Olympics , both dominated by product sponsors, MARK PERRYMAN points to a third, major sporting event with less emphasis on corporate control and more on popular participation …
Modern sport isn’t simply a contest between teams or individuals. It is also increasingly an arena which corporate power seeks to exploit. During this summer of major sporting events it’s clear that the governing bodies behind the European soccer finals and the Olympic Games are following a strikingly similar agenda, one shaped by drive of business to make money out of people’s love for sport. That generally starts with top down control. Here are two examples from Euro 2012, from where I’m writing:

George Galloway in Halifax

MPs act over Thomas Cook closure

Bradford MPs George Galloway and Gerry Sutcliffe today met with the national leader of the trade union representing the Thomas Cook employees at the Houses of Parliament.

The MPs pledged their full support to the union and its general secretary Manuel Cortes in their fight to save more than 500 jobs in Bradford city centre.

The MPs are commissioning an impact assessment from Bradford University and are asking the chief executive of Thomas Cook to meet them urgently so that the building 'does not become another shrink-wrapped mausoleum in the city centre,' Galloway said.

The union is still involved in the 90-day consultation process with the Cook management, with the jobs slated to go next March.

Galloway added, 'Gerry and I are determined to do everything we possibly can to save these crucial jobs.'

Galloway to meet Gove over Bradford schools crisis

Education secretary Michael Gove MP is to meet George Galloway to discuss the learning crisis in Bradford secondary schools.

Galloway raised the appalling results in GCSE exams – Bradford is the eighth worst in country out of 150 authorities – in the House of Commons today (Monday). Gove responded that he was aware that the Bradford West MP had made a particular issue of the poor educational standards in the city in his successful election campaign and offered to meet him to discuss the matter.

In his parliamentary question George Galloway said that, 'New Labour in Bradford have achieved the seeming impossible in presiding over secondary school is the city that are even worse than they were when the Conservatives ran them. In the youngest city in England we have the eighth worst schools in the country in a league table of 150.' He asked: 'What special measures can the government take to rescue the youngest city in England from the perdition of ignorance.'

Michael Gove rose to give his response, an offer to meet the Bradford West MP.

'Enough of the naughty step, leave the class,' Galloway tells Bradford education bosses

Bradford schools' results are among the worst in the country and the council must take responsibility for the educational disaster, Bradford West MP George Galloway hit out. Education is too important to be left to the those who have manifestly failed pupils, he said, vowing to raise the 'appalling mess damaging our children' in parliament.

On Thursday Bradford Councillor Ralph Berry unveiled what he claimed was a new education plan, although it was short on specifics.  'If Bradford Council has a new education strategy, as they claim to have, then they'd do well to spell it out in plain English rather than PRspeak about, "tighter focus", "better outcomes" and "governance arrangements",' Galloway commented. 'In simple language education standards at senior pupil level in Bradford are a disgrace. League tables aren't everything but they are the best benchmark we have about successful and failing schools. Out of 31 state-funded senior schools in Bradford just five of them reached or bettered the national average for five 'A' to 'C' GCSE passes. That's an appalling 16%.' 

Galloway snubs Bradford council leader Green

Bradford West MP George Galloway accused Bradford council leader Dave Green of 'keeping calm and carrying on' while a national emergency was engulfing the city.

'Kids are being given homelessness packs at school, classrooms are being made ready to deal with an influx of families forced out of their homes, my constituency has experienced the highest year-on-year unemployment increase in the country and more than one-in-five families are in fuel poverty,' Galloway said. 'If Mr Green doesn't recognise that as a national emergency then he has no business being in the job. His strategy is to simply keep calm and carry on with the same old, same old. It won't fool the public.'

Galloway was reacting to criticism of him by Green on a BBC radio programme: 'He must be the only person left in the country who believes Plan A is working. Even George Osborne admits it isn't and Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls certainly does. Perhaps he hasn't sent the message to Labour leader Green?'

Bleeding us dry

A belated admission, insouciant excuses, a stench of authoritarianism and a sluice of scapegoating.

The outlines of this government of millionaires are now being hashed out daily.

The British economy has already returned to recession - after a near flat recovery which left most of our people untouched. Now both the Bank of England and the Treasury have woken up to the threat of an outright economic catastrophe, having spurned the warnings of increasing numbers of independent economists over the last year.

This week they came up with another eye-watering £80 billion for Britain's enfeebled banks to try to stave off what could in the coming days and weeks be a financial hurricane more ferocious than that ushered in by the collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly four years ago. But the underlying dogmatism of austerity for the many and largesse for the few remains right at the centre of the coalition government's policy. Like some demented First World War general Osborne and Cameron, with Clegg as recruiting sergeant, are throwing wave after wave of working people over the top and into the canon fire of unbridled capitalist crisis.

Bradford get Respect

The Respect Party Conference takes place this Saturday, 16 June in Bradford, the scene of Respect's recent by-election and council election successes. The venue is the magnificent Connaught Rooms, Manningham Lane, Bradford, BD1 3EA.

The conference will discuss the way forward for progressive politics that challenge the three major parties which all say the same things. It will also include an afternoon session on the world in chaos, with a specific focus on the further attempts to foment war in the Middle East and the huge crisis in Europe.

Starting with registration at 10am, the opening address will be delivered by Salma Yaqoob, Respect's outstanding Leader followed by George Galloway, Respect MP for Bradford West who will introduce the session on the Bradford Spring and beyond. The morning will end with breakout sessions on building branches and student groups for Respect.

The afternoon session on the world in chaos will be introduced by Kevin Ovenden, Respect National Council member and Director of Viva Palestina. This will be followed by elections and some closing remarks.

Members and non-members are welcome (though only members will have voting rights). Registration can be booked on this website or at the desk at the entrance to the conference. It costs £5 to register as a member.  

COOK PUTS PROFIT OVER PEOPLE

Reacting to the news that Thomas Cook is to close its Bradford operations centre and throw 468 people on the dole, Bradford West MP George Galloway accused the company of a 'heartless disregard' of the people and families involved.

'Once more we see a company put profit before people. There has been no consultation, just P45s all round. It's disgraceful,' the MP said. He called on the company, 'even at this late stage', to get round the table with local MPs, politicians and unions to save the jobs.

'Like any other company Cook has suffered through this shameful government's austerity programme. The economy needs growth, not retraction like this,' he continued. He pointed out that Bradford West had suffered the highest year-on-year increase of any of the country's 650 constituencies - almost 30% - and that more than one-in-five families were in fuel poverty. 'We need urgent action from the government to save these jobs and to grow the economy rather than stifle it. I am challenging David Cameron and George Osborne, the real people ultimately responsible for this tragedy, to come here to face the people and tell them why their job losses - and all the others suffered in the last year - are helping build the economy.'

Tickets, Anybody Got Tickets?

The London Olympics 2012 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. So why, asks Mark Perryman, have so few of us got tickets?

With the Jubilee over and the England football team unlikely to provide much of a lasting distraction at the Euros, the 50-day countdown to the London Olympics is now entering serious overdrive.

Right from the start of the bidding competition back in 2005, hosting a ‘home’ Olympics was sold to the British public as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was no idle boast: Along with football’s World Cup (which England can’t even think of hosting till at least 2026) the Olympics is undoubtedly the biggest show on earth. Spread across 26 different sports and with over 200 countries competing, its reach and appeal is enormous.

The sales pitch of the Olympic organisers was explicit: This was an opportunity to be there while history was being made, to witness something unforgettable first-hand, to bring the memories of past Games watched on TV to vivid life. The Games organisers did little or nothing to dampen expectation that tickets for the Games would there for the taking.

John Carlos in Bradford - the whole nine yards

All of John Carlos's inspirational talk given in Bradford on 26th May,  introduced by George Galloway MP

GALLOWAY CANCELS CHAMBER MEETING

Bradford West MP George Galloway has pulled out of a scheduled meeting with Bradford Chamber of Commerce after its president claimed the Westfield hole occupation was damaging the city's reputation.

'It's rampant unemployment, a massive hole in the heart of the city and an iconic building done up in bubble wrap which are harming the image of Bradford - coupled with the asinine utterings of chamber president Stephen Wright,' Galloway said. 'Just ask businesses surrounding the Westfield hole how business has suffered since it was dug. I wholeheartedly support the occupation of the site as a way of drawing attention to the failure of this council and the developers to even lay one brick there, and as a way of putting pressure on both of them either to start the development or get out of the way and allow others with fresh ideas to take over.'

Galloway noted that unemployment in his constituency had gone up 29.6% year-on-year. 'It's self-evident that if people aren't working they can't afford to shop, or even feed their families properly. What has Stephen Wright said or done about this? Nothing that I can see,' Galloway continued. 

The MP was due to hold a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce on June 29. 'I've cancelled that because clearly Mr Wright and I have nothing polite to say to each other,' the MP said.

It’s the Taking Part

According to the organizers, encouraging participation in sport is one of the main benefits of the London 2012 Olympics. Mark Perryman examines the evidence.

The Olympic motto “ The most important thing is not winning but taking part” represents some of the finest ideals not only of Olympism but of any sporting event aspiring to be democratic, participative and accessible. After this weekend’s Jubilee hoopla fades away, the coming summer of sport - Euro 2012, a serious British challenger to win the Tour de France, Wimbledon fortnight, overseas rugby tours to the southern hemisphere, a domestic test match series and the first, and last, home Olympics for most of our lifetimes - will no doubt test such sentiments to the full. A nation that invented many of the world’s team sports has, perhaps forgivably, some difficulty in coping with repeated defeats by the nations to which it exported them. Add in a lengthy martial and imperial tradition, and CLR James’ famous maxim ‘What do they know of cricket who only cricket know’ can be seen as essential to understanding why the British are not the world’s best losers.