Scottish MP Calls For British Soldiers To Disobey Orders In This Illegal War

'Labour will need the SAS to winkle me out'
Galloway defiant in face of expulsion calls
CATHERINE MacLEOD, ELEANOR COWIE and SORCHA CLIFFORD

FURIOUS Scottish Labour MPs will today demand the expulsion of George Galloway from the parliamentary party for his anti-war comments.

Their anger spilled over after Mr Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, but also known as the MP for Baghdad Central, mounted a forthright attack on Tony Blair and urged British soldiers to disobey orders in this "illegal war" and come home.

His future is expected to be discussed this morning at the weekly parliamentary committee meeting between senior party figures and Mr Blair at the insistence of Mr Galloway's "genuinely angry" colleagues.

However, a defiant Mr Galloway last night said: "They will need the SAS to winkle me out."

In an interview with Abu Dhabi TV, Mr Galloway had branded Mr Blair and George Bush as "wolves" for committing the "crime" of military action against Iraq.

Speaking to The Herald yesterday, Mr Galloway added: "I believe soldiers should disobey orders as this war is only leading them to kill innocents and then to their own death. They are paying the blood sacrifice for Tony Blair's 'special' relationship with George Bush. It is a disgrace and a scandal."

Senior Labour party officials last night admitted the issue was being discussed today, but refused to comment on the likely outcome. However, a succession of MPs from north and south of the border have called on the party hierarchy to withdraw the party whip from the controversial MP, although they may be tempted to wait until after the Scottish parliamentary elections.

One influential Scottish MP, who asked not to be named, said: "There is a head of steam building up to get rid of Galloway.

"Of course, Galloway is seeking martyrdom, but that doesn't mean we should hold back from kicking him out. He appears to be singled out for lenient treatment from the leadership and that should be tolerated no longer."

Charles Clarke, the education secretary, said Mr Galloway's remarks were "completely unacceptable."

"I think he has been politically misguided in his relationship to the Saddam regime for a very long period of his political life. I think he's taken positions which are wrong and unacceptable, and I think he has been naive and gullible."

Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, pointed out that when MPs took the oath of allegiance to ensure they got paid, they not only pledged allegiance to the Queen, but to the nation as well. John Robertson, MP for Glasgow Anniesland, who voted against the government in the Commons debate on the war, last night said Mr Galloway's comments were unhelpful.

"I voted against the government, but now that we are at war I think my constituents would want me to support the government's position. I think George's comments amount to more rhetoric than substance."

In Downing Street, the prime minister's spokesman sought to brush aside the controversy, saying: "The prime minister has more important things than George Galloway to focus on today and for the rest of the conflict.

"He is more interested in disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and allowing Iraq to be given back to its people."

Mr Galloway yesterday dismissed the accusations levelled at him, including one of treason. "Being called a traitor by a Murdoch paper (the Sun) is a bit rich. I am only expressing my opinion, which I am entitled to do. It has not changed.

"Soldiers are always heroes when they are in battle. But when they come home lamed, unemployed and need of help, the government doesn't want anything to do with them.

"Our soldiers are being ordered to kill innocent women and children and the defence of 'I was only obeying orders' died at Nuremberg."

Asked about his future within the Labour party, Mr Galloway said: "That is a matter for them. I've been in the Labour party all my life, and I suspect I will be in it long after Mr Blair."


What his constituents think

Susan Boyd "I don't have a problem with what he said. There is no conscription, people join the army to go out and fight, so I don't think this is bad for the troops' morale. I absolutely don't think he should toe the party line - it is an illegal war and most of the country was against it when Blair took us into war. It is not George Galloway who is wrong - it is all the careerists in the Labour party who have shown no integrity."

Anonymous "Sometimes I think thank goodness for George Galloway because somebody's got to say this is wrong. He supports the troops, that's why he wants them home. He is letting the Arab world know that some of us don't want this war."

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/2-4-19103-0-26-46.html