THE chairman of Tory youth group Conservative Future in South Wales was forced to resign yesterday, over a web post in which he said he wished George Galloway was dead.

Grant Tucker, who was appointed in February to lead the organisation for Conservatives under the age of 30 in the region, stood down after the former Respect and Labour MP demanded a police inquiry and called for him to be suspended.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives said that Mr Tucker, a student at Coleg Gwent who co-ordinated campaigns for two Conservative Parliamentary candidates earlier this year, had intended his comment as a “flippant remark” but recognised it was also “deeply offensive”.

His post was left on his Facebook page on which he referred to a video of Mr Galloway’s television appearances and said: “I really would like to see George Galloway dead.”

Kevin Ovenden, a representative of Viva Palestina, was on the main ship of the Freedom Flotilla when Israeli soldiers descended onto the deck – he spoke from Turkey to Siân Ruddick

We organised and successfully delivered more than $5 million worth of humanitarian aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza. Three huge convoys,
hundreds of vehicles, scores of volunteers, medical equipment, drugs, through dozens of countries, past cheering crowds but also in the teeth of opposition from the governments of some countries.
But it doesn't end there. It cannot. While the illegal siege continues it's our duty to do what we can to pierce the blockade and help relieve the suffering Palestinians. Which is why we're launching Viva Palestina Arabia now.

You are closest to it, you feel it in your hearts, which is why I am asking you to help me, Viva Palestina Arabia and the starving, battered, but indomitable people of Gaza.

Please.

George Galloway

Following the party's disappointing showing in the recent local and general elections, Mr Galloway hit back at the "gross distortions and lies" that the party was finished.

Mr Galloway rebutted the BBC suggestion that the party had no money following the departure of its biggest donor, stating: "These are false claims. Azmal Hussein is Tower Hamlets Respect chairman not national chairman," he said.

"And if you check, you will see he is not a major financial backer of the party.

"The party will continue to be funded in the same way as before - by small donations from supporters and members. They are not rich in money but rich in commitment and spirit."

Mr Galloway promised to instigate legal action if the BBC did not issue a retraction.

In the run-up to a bitterly fought election, where Mr Galloway finished third in Poplar and Limehouse behind eventual Labour victor Jim Fitzpatrick, suggestions were raised that Respect was merely a "Muslim party."

But Respect Bethnal Green and Bow candidate Abjol Miah dismissed the suggestion and said that voters were different depending on what part of the country you go to.

"Yes, in Tower Hamlets we have predominantly Bangladeshi and Muslim members but that reflects the local circumstances. Respect members in Manchester and further north are for example mainly white."

Mr Miah defended the record of councillors in the area, crediting them with pushing up social housing provision to 35 per cent.

"However this is still lower than former mayor Ken Livingstone's target of 50 per cent in the capital and that is due to new Labour," he said.

Mr Galloway praised local Respect councillors for opposing the opening of strip clubs in the area and insisted that Respect would be part of any campaign to defend public services from the coalition government's cuts.

"Working people have already paid enough for the crisis," and those responsible should pay, he said.

Asked whether Respect would align with Labour in opposition to defend the public from any cuts, Mr Galloway added: "Whoever comes to its side, we will be there."

Subject: Yes we can.... 60,758 voted YES and 39,857 voted NO


Well done to everyone who worked hard and made it happen.....

The work has just begun! Will update you in the next few days

Three stories featured (briefly) in the news this week point out how fragile a thing our democracy is and serve to underscore how important it is for us all to be vigilant and vocal when its threatened...even if by our own government.

George Galloway: I've been confident all along that Canada remains a country governed by law, rather than the capricious whim of here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians. I was always confident and still am confident that the court will grant permission because really all we're asking is to have a say.

People don't have to agree with it, and many will not. But the Canadian people have a right to hear, and hear not down a crackling telephone line but face-to-face, where they can ask questions and engage in the debate.

It's unbecoming of a country like Canada to ban a fellow commonwealth parliamentarian elected for almost 25 years, five consecutive terms, and a man who can travel in and out of the United States, sometimes on a weekly basis. To say that such a person is a terrorist is deeply insulting to the intelligence of the Canadian people.

RESPECT Party candidate George Galloway was on the campaign trail in the east end of London yesterday.

Mr Galloway is so far facing competition from seven other candidates for what could be the capital’s most marginal seat in the upcoming general election.

He took to the streets to meet voters in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency after switching from neighbouring Bethnal Green and Bow, the seat he won at the last election in 2005.

Mr Galloway visited Watney Market at Shadwell as part of yesterday’s campaign efforts.

Boundary changes mean the seat now includes the wealthy Canary Wharf area and the poorer Bromley-by-Bow ward.

Mr Galloway’s opponents include Labour’s Jim Fitzpatrick, who had been MP for the old Poplar and Canning Town constituency since 1997, and the Conservative candidate Tim Archer, whose party has marked the area as a high-priority seat.

Respect candidate Abjol Miah will take Mr Galloway’s place in the Bethnal Green and Bow contest.

A cracking leaflet promoting George Galloway, a big voice for the voiceless.

Respect will be having a big impact in Tower Hamlets on Saturday,  meeting at noon 17 April, 49 Hanbury Street London E1, just off Brick Lane.

Galloway, who is standing in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency, was with a party of supporters in Watney Market around 3pm when he and his colleagues were first abused and then attacked by the group.

"They called me a filthy Kaffir" said Galloway, "and shouted that no one should shake the 'filthy Kaffir's hand'. This lot are the latest incarnation of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun. They don't want Muslims to vote, they don't believe in democracy, and because I encourage Muslims to vote and take a full part in our society they hate me. My party, Respect, is the antidote to these despicable extremists."

Galloway's assistant Kevin Ovenden had his phone smashed in the incident and other supporters were abused and jostled.

Galloway was also attacked, held hostage and received death threats from Al-Muhajiroun, then called Al-Gourabaa, in the 2005 General Election.