Galloway hits out at ‘complacent’ Westminster elites
George Galloway has attacked Westminster's politicians as complacent and narcissistic in an uncompromising comment piece for politics.co.uk, three weeks after his by-election victory in Bradford West.
The Respect MP used the article to hit out against the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat consensus on issues like Afghanistan and spending cuts.
He claimed that the French presidential campaign and upcoming general election in Greece would reflect the nature of his victory against the "grim orthodoxy" of "slashing the state… and appeasing the money markets".
"The result from Greece to Spain and beyond has been disastrous. Now that consensus, only ever shared at the top, is cracking as alternatives begin to register on the political spectrum," he argued.
Mr Galloway won 56% of the total vote and a majority of 5,763 in March 29th's by-election, ousting Labour from the seat nine years after he was expelled from the party.
Repeating his claim that "the three established parties resemble more and more three cheeks of the same backside", Mr Galloway suggested the economic malaise of the "great recession" would bring about a fundamental reassessment of the way politics works in the UK.
"For so many years we have been told that that was impossible or antediluvian," he added.
"As the recession and foreign disasters grind on in Europe, and Britain prepares for more 'one-offs' or 'freak results' which together will point to a political awakening, desire is growing for a big politics about the fundamental course of our society. Not about marginal differences, often of presentation."
Mr Galloway took his seat in the Commons on Monday and pressed David Cameron on "the bloody maw of Afghanistan" in prime minister's questions yesterday.
He deplored the "amount of blood on the ground" and called for Britain to accelerate its planned withdrawal of troops from the country, following similar moves by Australia and his by-election victory.
Mr Cameron congratulated Mr Galloway on a "stunning by-election victory" and complimented the Respect MP for speaking "with great power and great force".
The prime minister rejected Mr Galloway's arguments, however, telling the Commons' latest addition: "I urge him not to play to the gallery on this issue but to speak up for the work that our forces are doing to make Afghanistan a safer country."
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