There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen.

The peoples of the Arab world, and therefore the rest of us, are now living through those weeks - described in words used by the Russian revolutionary Lenin a century ago.

Revolution is back on the agenda, on the front page of the New York Times even, at just the time when globalised capitalism is mired in its deepest economic crisis for generations and the seemingly almighty power of US imperialism is being demonstrated to be anything but. ....

Galloway, 56, will launch his election campaign in Glasgow today.

He said: "In 2007, more than 40,000 people voted Labour with their second vote to no effect because the party did not get any seats on the list.

"So my main pitch is to Labour supporters. I would like also to appeal to former Lib-Dem voters who feel betrayed by the coalition.

"Thirdly, I would like to appeal to SNP supporters who like the party's Labourish policies but don't favour breaking the country up.

"That's why coverage of the far-left parties is misguided - because I'm not fishing in the same pond as them."

PressTV : Hundreds of volunteers have set off from London in vehicles packed with medical aid in an attempt to break the Israeli siege of Gaza. The Viva Palestina convoy will link up with more activists in Europe and the Middle East over the next few weeks. International agencies say the economic blockade on Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis in the terrortory. Roshan Muhammed Salih reports from London.

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.

....With the Tories the gap between Labour and the Tories narrowing in the polls, there is every prospect now of a hung parliament. This could make Tower Hamlets the decisive influence over the next government.

Very senior Labour figures have approached George Galloway to find out our attitude towards a potential minority Labour government.  This is our response.

If there is a hung parliament and George Galloway and Abjol Miah are returned as Tower Hamlets MPs, Respect will have three minimum conditions on which we will support a Labour-led government:

A MASSIVE COUNCIL HOUSE BUILDING PROGRAMME TO ADDRESS THE HOUSING SCANDAL IN THIS BOROUGH AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY

THE RAPID WITHDRAWAL OF BRITISH TROOPS FROM ALL ILLEGAL AND POINTLESS WARS

THE RADICAL DEMOCRATISATION OF OUR CONSTITUTION WITH A FAIR VOTING SYSTEM, ABOLITION OF THE APPOINTED HOUSE OF LORDS AND CLEANING UP PARLIAMENT – NO MORE SECOND HOMES FIDDLES.

Respect MP George Galloway has hit out the amount of money spent on Public relations by the Ministry of Defence.

His comments were made after he released figures from the Ministry of Defence, obtained in response to a Parliamentary Question, which show a doubling of the budget for “public relations activities”, including on external PR consultants, in the period when Britain joined George Bush’s wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.

The MoD has confirmed that between 2001 and 2006 the amount spent on spin increased from £35.1 million to £76.2 million.

Mr Galloway said, “Senior military figures have told the Chilcot inquiry that during this period, such was the rush to war, British troops were sent to the deserts of Iraq with jungle fatigues.

“It is clear that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, however, were prepared to lavish money on the Ministry of Defence’s spin operation, which was deployed against military families who spoke out against the war, such as Rose Gentle.

“The Iraq war was wrong for many more reasons than just the financial cost and the contempt that was shown for British forces, who were sent to kill and be killed on a lie.

“But these figures provide a fitting indictment of Blair and Brown: a bottomless pit of cash to try to sell a disastrous and illegal war.”

Respect MP George Galloway warns that legalising assisted suicide could be a slippery slope leading to "Dr Death" panels deciding who lives and who dies.

Plans to ban Muslim women from covering their faces in public areas are oppressive, the leader of the Respect party said yesterday.

Salma Yaqoob’s comments came as the UK Independence Party (UKIP) announced a formal policy that would make the wearing of garments such as the burka or the niqab — both of which conceal most of the face — to be illegal.

George Galloway, the British MP leading the Viva Palestina international aid convoy to the Gaza Strip has been forced to leave Egypt, the group has said on its website.

Galloway was apparently picked up by Egyptian officials at the Rafah border crossing on Friday and driven to Cairo where he was placed on a flight back to London.

Galloway told Al Jazeera by telephone from the airport that he had been harassed by about 25 Egyptian police officer as he attempted to re-enter Gaza to join the rest of the Viva Palestina activists. 

He said Egyptian officials told him he was being sent out of the country and was now "persona non grata".

Bikya Masr sat down with British Member of Parliament George Galloway as he traverses Europe, leading the third Viva Palestina convoy from the UK to Gaza in order to deliver much needed aid to the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Currently, the group is pushing on from Turkey, where they received a warm welcome. The goal is to pass through Syria, Jordan and Egypt before entering Gaza via the Rafah Border Crossing.

Galloway has been in Parliament since 1987.

Bikya Masr: What makes Viva Palestina so important and why did you feel the need to do this?

George Galloway: This isn’t about the aid, as important as that is. But to put it in context our convoy amounts to around 200 vehicles. Gaza needs about 400 trucks a day in relief. These convoys are a statement that we won’t rest until this illegal siege is broken. We get amazing support and help through all the countries we traverse and we’re getting the message across about how the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. The convoys also, I believe, provide a beacon of hope for the beleaguered people of Gaza that the world has not forgotten them.

The idea came to me when we were protesting outside the Israeli embassy in London when the war broke out. It was necessary to protest but not sufficient. This is the third such convoy we have run and by far the most successful so far.

BM: Do you see it as an educational endeavor that can engage the world about the issues facing Israel/Palestine?

GG: I think world opinion has changed markedly since the war last year and the massive and disproportionate assault on Gaza. We are just underlining the message with our convoys and hopefully educating and propagandizing as we go.

BM: In the UK, what is the overall sense of a mission like this? Has it ostracized you with your colleagues?

GG: Ostracized? Not at all. My colleagues are fiercely and determinedly behind it. There is no dissent. We could have hope, although not expected, better media coverage in the UK but those in the cause know what is happening.

BM: The Israeli government isn’t too keen on the Viva Palestina convoy. How do you try to rectify this sort of sentiment?

GG: We don’t deal with the Israeli government so I don’t know and certainly don’t care.

BM: How has the Jewish community in the UK received these convoys? The Muslim community?

GG: There hasn’t been noticeable support from any Jewish organizations -rather than the reverse – but progressive Jews support us. Bear in mind that we took a group of rabbis on our last convoy. The Muslim reception has been fabulous, particularly in the poorer parts of Great Britain.

BM: What are the overall goals of this specific convoy and how do you spread the word?

GG: I think I answered the first part in my first answer. We spread the word through our websites, enormous databases and through mosques and sympathetic groups. We haven’t been at a loss for support thus far. You can find out more about Viva Palestina by going to www.vivapalestina,org or at www.georgegalloway.com

BM

MPs' expenses are knocked into a top hat by the eye-watering news that David Cameron's star parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith - son of billionaire Jimmy and brother of comely Jemima Khan - has robbed the British taxpayer of £5.8million in dodged tax.

Nothing could speak louder about the nature of the would-be Tory government than this.

There are more Old Etonians and other public school types on Cameron's front bench than at any time since the 19th century. Their treasurer and chief funder Lord Ashcroft presides over their affairs from the tax exile of Belize.

As Gordon Brown voluntarily paid back the £500 for the painting of his shed, how about would-be MP and non-domicile Zac pays back the £5million in unpaid taxes? From time to time, I come across the deluded and the deceived who've fallen for the "We're closing in" rhetoric of the campaign against benefit cheats. Of course nobody should be allowed to rip off the benefits system. But why don't we start at the top, where the big money is going missing? Why don't we start with Lord Ashcroft and Zac Goldsmith? If Brown and Darling were men instead of mice they'd do just that, and quickly.

Who knows, guys, it might even help in the forthcoming election? Did anyone check that Tory defector, now a New Labour Defence Minister, Quentin Davies - surely the only rat ever to clamber aboard a sinking ship - hasn't slipped in a claim for the removal of that hump on his back? In the middle of a war in which he is the spectacularly unsuccessful procurement minister - a combination of essential equipment never ordered and a £6billion overspend on the otiose, the grandiose and the merely gross - he sat down to compose a £20,000 expense claim for, among other things, the repair of the bell tower on his stately home. A Labour MP, that is, with a stately home. And a bell tower. There is another Labour MP, also a Tory defector, Shaun Woodward. Married to a Sainsbury, he has SEVEN homes worth tens of millions and complete with butlers. He is the richest man in parliament, one of the richest in the country. But that doesn't stop him sitting down and filling in an expense claim form on which he extracts to the penny the exact maximum in second home allowance.

What's wrong with these people? Then there's Tory grandee, head of the controversial Conservative Friends of Israel, James Arbuthnot MP. He's the chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee. In the middle of a war, he too had other things on his mind. He might have been watching the history channel. Or Newsnight, Question Time or the BBC.

Instead one night last summer he was watching the shopping channel QVC. As you do when you're a top parliamentarian. His eye was caught by a three-pack of garlic crushers and peelers. Well, every home should have one. But three? And at the public expense? Even Gordon Brown claimed £500 for the re-painting of his "summer house" - what the rest of us call a shed - in Queensferry.

Why? Tory toff Lord Snooty Cameron, who last year claimed to cut back his Wisteria, now bills us £1000 for Aga oil.

Two millennia ago, the Roman Emperor Nero famously fiddled whilst Rome burned. Our rulers fiddle while they burn our money and destroy what's left of parliament's reputation.

Ask not for whom Mr Quentin's bell tolls? It tolls for all of them.

George Galloway, a Member of Parliament in London, on Wednesday demanded international enquiry into the proposed Tipaimukh dam by India.

"If the dam is built Bangladesh, particularly, its Sylhet area will be serious damaged and this projected should be halted," he said.

The environment and climate of Bangladesh will be seriously effected and as a vast area of Bangaldesh will be deserted in the dry season and flood will take place in the rainy season if the dam is constructed.

He made the remark at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium in the afternoon.

Galloway said that as a Member of Parliament in London he represents 40,000 people of Syljht in London and he is duty bound to see the advantages and disadvantages of this people, who will be victimised by the proposed Tipaimukh dam.

He said his party, Respect Party UK, has staged demonstration before the Indian High Commission office last month against the dam.

He said that he is campaigning against the dam allover the world and building awareness about the impact of the proposed dam.

The letter below was published in The Guardian on Friday 27 November

Latin America faces the greatest threat to its democracy in decades. The military coup that overthrew elected president Manual Zelaya and seized power in Honduras in June is now seeking to legitimise its illegal government through the international recognition of elections on 29 November. Such recognition would give a green light to opponents of democracy throughout the continent that military coups will be tolerated. Free and fair elections on November 29 are impossible. Human rights, freedom of assembly and of the press have all been under attack in Honduras. Repression under the coup regime has seen at least 20 people killed, more than 600 people injured and 3,500 people detained.

The legitimate Honduran president, Manual Zelaya, has called for supporters of democracy not to recognise the elections under the military coup regime. Nearly all of Latin America’s governments have declared that they will not do so. Worryingly the US has indicated it will recognise these illegitimate elections. We call on all governments, including the Obama administration, to not recognise the elections on 29 November under the military coup regime.

News arrives from the north of another great courtroom victory for your columnist, yours truly, and I'm as happy as a bear gulping down a leaping salmon.

Readers may recall that earlier this year while addressing, among others, the audience at the UN building in New York City (site of the mass murder of 9/11) I was banned from entering Canada on the grounds I may be a terrorist.

This because I had delivered a convoy of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip just after it had been flattened by Israel. You know, potentially dangerous stuff, like wheelchairs and ambulances.

The far-right government of that once kindly country has been making a habit of banning dissenters, at the same time welcoming killers like George W Bush for well-paid speaking tours.

And the suspicion is abroad that its role as Benjamin Netanyahu's main international cheerleader may have unduly influenced it in what are surely purely Canadian immigration decisions.

Last week the Canadian Chief Justice granted me leave to appeal against the decision despite ferocious (and expensive) opposition from the Canadian Government.

As only one in 10 of such applications is granted and my legal team are working for nothing it was David v Goliath stuff. And we won.

If the Canadian Tories had any sense they would now back down and let me in. I'm going to win the case if they don't the and there must be better things to spend their country's money on. And if I do win; just think of the crowds, coverage, not to mention book sales when I enter in triumph.

I did warn them, when it comes to courts I always get my man.

The groom at the centre of the storm over Muslim weddings, Bodrul Islam, spoke out today at a press conference about his anger at Jim Fitzpatrick.

“He likened my wedding to the racial segregation, the apartheid, of the Deep South. I am disgusted at this degenerate politics and these insults,” said Mr Islam. “I am announcing today that I am joining the Respect Party. It is the only party standing up against racism and prejudice. And I am pledging my support for George Galloway as he seeks to replace Jim Fitzpatrick as the MP for Poplar and Limehouse.”

Mr Islam continued, “Neither I nor my wife are particularly traditional in our attitudes but we wanted to show respect to our elders and our parents who expect that men and women should be separated in the wedding ceremony. We did everything we could to accommodate Mr Fitzpatrick when we heard he had left the wedding and we were given to understand he was not upset. Imagine our dismay when days later he issued a condemnatory press release and followed it up with a press conference saying he wanted to outlaw what he likes to call segregation at weddings”.

George Galloway and Councillor Abjol Miah welcomed Mr Islam to the party, George thanked him for his pledge of support and Councillor Miah invited him to put himself forward as a candidate for Respect in the forthcoming council elections.

George Galloway went on to attack Fitzpatrick for dangerously pandering to prejudice. “Fitzpatrick is fanning the flames of hate, as the Advertiser correctly described it. He says he wants to outlaw ‘forced’ segregation. But no-one is forcing anyone to go to a wedding. The law he proposes would in fact make weddings where the sexes are separated illegal and would also probably lead to many other events being made illegal, such as women only swimming. The proposal is both dangerous and absurd.”

A PALESTINIAN Liberation Organisation flag hanging from Dundee City Council’s chambers caused controversy among government ministers when it was first flown during the Thatcher era, a new document has revealed.

The flag, which represents the twinning of Dundee and the West Bank town of Nablus in November 1980, was hung by the Labour party under the suggestion of then-city councillor George Galloway.

According to a newly declassified UK Government document, the move so incensed Conservative ministers that they considered various ways of removing it.

One civil servant suggested it could be sabotaged, writing on April 3, 1981: “The flag is in a very secluded part of the council chambers and could be stolen, destroyed or damaged very easily if anyone had a mind to take this kind of action.”

Yesterday Mr Galloway, who left Dundee in 1983 and is now an MP for the Respect party in London, said he was surprised civil servants had suggested sabotaging the flag.

He said: “This was clearly an incitement of an illegal act and one which, when I get the file, I may well pursue.

“It is quite chilling to learn that in the undergrowth of government such measures are canvassed.”

The government eventually conceded there was no legal basis for forcing the council to remove the flag, and a PLO standard remains at the city chambers today.

Betty Hunter from the PSC kicked off by explaining something of the PSC’s history and approach. Kiri Tunks spoke on behalf of the local teachers’ union branch and said, among other things that her visit to Gaza had changed her life and that the demonstrations in other parts of the world were seen by Palestinians and uplifted them. A local councillor spoke and said nothing you could disagree with but nothing particularly insightful.

Viva Palestina’s Kevin Ovenden explained how the February convoy was conceived and described the plans for this December’s. He reinforced Kiri’s points about the impact protests outside Palestine have and painted a vivid picture of what the convoy will achieve.

Ken Livingstone gave a good account of how the Labour Party was eventually won over to accepting that the Palestinians had right on their side, illustrating this by reminding the audience that the original decision to recognise the PLO as the representatives of the Palestinian people had been carried with a margin of 1% at conference. By contrast Livingstone argued that Blair’s tacit support for the attack on Gaza cost him his leadership.

George Galloway did something of an old pals’ act with Livingstone, reminiscing about how he had drafted the Labour conference resolution and contrasting Livingstone with the pro-Israel Johnson. Perhaps rashly, he said that the former mayor would have been critical of the cops who attacked pro-Palestinian demonstrators with batons. My recollection is that Livingstone was fairly muscular in his defence of the cops’ right to shoot young Brazilians. On the other hand he explained how the idea for the convoys had been sparked by the East End’s support for Republican Spain.

Two hundred people at a meeting on Palestine organised by e mail and word of mouth is a real achievement. Tower Hamlets PSC has a future.

Two hundred people at a meeting on Palestine organised by e mail and word of mouth is a real achievement. Tower Hamlets PSC has a future.

Hundreds of mourners said their final goodbyes to trade union "giant" Bill Speirs at a moving funeral service yesterday.

First Minister Alex Salmond and MP George Galloway were among those who turned out to honour the former STUC leader, who died last week.

Other political figures who joined Bill's devastated wife Pat and children David and Jaki included Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, former leader Wendy Alexander, former health minister Susan Deacon and firebrand socialist Tommy Sheridan.

More than 150 people stood outside Renfrew Town Hall and listened to the humanist service on a PA system after the venue's 250 capacity was reached.

A much-loved figure, Bill died aged 57 after a long illness. He had served the STUC from 1979 to 2006, rising to general secretary in 1998.

At the ceremony, his wife Pat said: "He was committed to what he cared about. He cared endlessly for people and none of us will ever know all the things that he did to help people over the years."

Fighting back tears, she added: "Farewell to my bright, funny, lovable husband. As long as I live, I will wish I still walked with you."

The service included many songs chosen by Bill and, in accordance with his wishes, ended with mourners roaring along to socialist anthem The Internationale.

Eulogy

In his eulogy, Respect MP George Galloway said: "A great oak has fallen in the sparser political forest with the passing of Bill Speirs.

"In many distant parts of the world his death is being noticed and mourned.

"There are people as far away as South Africa and Palestine and indeed many parts of the Arab world, former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, whose lives Bill touched and graced and improved, who today are mourning."

Former first minister Jack McConnell said: "His special contribution was his belief that ordinary people, mobilised and organised, could effect change for themselves and change in others.

"Bill Speirs built bridges between people, not walls to keep people apart.

"Scotland lost a special son last week. We all lost a special friend.

"But we remember today the man, his immense contribution, his fun, his intellect, his style, his inspiration and his values of decency, compassion and respect."

George Galloway has paid an heartfelt tribute to former union leader Bill Speirs at his funeral attended by leading political figures and hundreds of other mourners.

The former Labour politician said a “great oak has fallen in the sparser political forest with the passing of Mr Speirs” a former STUC general secretary who has died at the age of 57 after a long illness.

He also said regarded him as an “older, more sophisticated brother.”

Those who attended Renfrew Town Hall included First Minister Alex Salmond, Labour leader Ian Gray and former First Minister Jack McConnell.

The building was packed with former colleagues, fellow activists, relatives and well wishers forcing left-wing firebrand Tommy Sheridan and former Labour leader Wendy Alexander to stand on the pavement outside.

Mr Galloway told mourners: “In many distant parts of the world the passing of Bill Speirs is being noticed and mourned.

"There are people as far away as South Africa and Palestine and indeed many parts of the Arab world, former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, whose lives Bill touched and graced and improved who today are mourning his passing.

The Respect MP, who saluted as the former union chief’s coffin passed by him in a hearse, added: "He was an eagle, a leader. I will never, ever, ever forget Bill Speirs and what he meant in my life, and I suspect I am not alone in that."

In his tribute, Mr McConnell said it was "a real honour" to be able to pay his respects to the trade unionist and that Scotland had lost a “special son.”

He said: "I am proud to have known Bill, and learned from him over the past 30 years. This past week, friends and colleagues have used a range of words to describe Bill Speirs: intellect, passion, humour, energy, motivated and motivating, internationalist, loyal friend, decent, charismatic.

"But his special contribution was in his belief that ordinary people, mobilised and organised, could effect change. Change for themselves and change in others.

"He believed that they could make an impact and have an influence on their community, their company or their country.

"Bill Speirs built bridges between people, not walls to keep people apart.

"He was never ending in his passionate belief that Scotland would be a better more democratic place, a more just society, with a Scottish Parliament in place. Now it is here but he is gone.

"Scotland lost a special son last week. We all lost a special friend. We will miss him and his huge contribution to our national life.”,

The former leader added that mourners were there to remember his “immense contribution, his fun, his intellect, his style, his inspiration, and his values of decency, compassion and respect."

Mr Speirs joined the STUC as an assistant secretary in 1979. He became deputy general secretary in 1988 and general secretary 10 years later.

Family, friends, politicians, civic leaders and even the odd political opponent will pack Renfrew Town Hall on Friday lunchtime for the funeral service for Bill Speirs.

The former STUC General Secretary died last week at the age of 57.

The funeral venue is an indication of the sheer numbers expected to attend to mark the life of one of the most talented leaders the Union movement has ever produced.

Tributes will be led by George Galloway MP, former First Minister Jack McConnell MSP and Campbell Christie.

This will be an old fashioned socialist funeral where some of the causes close to Mr Speirs will be celebrated in speech, song and even symbol. His coffin is expected to be draped by the Saltire, the Red Flag and that of Palestine. Arthur Johnston will lead tribute in song as mourners recall the life of this socialist and internationalist.

After the service his body will be laid to rest at Arkleston Cemetery in Renfrew.

When Thatcherism was at its height, Mr Speirs' reputation blossomed as an articulate and strategically sharp operator in defence of workers. He was on the vanguard of anti-Conservative agitation against the Poll Tax and was a keen architect of the cross-party Scotland United campaign.

As a former Labour Party chairman he was a committed member, but was never narrow or sectarian. At the STUC, his eight years as General Secretary from 1998 kept the unions at the centre of the political, cultural and civic debates of the time.

When he retired from the STUC three years ago, he had a long battle against illness. It pained family and friends who witnesses the slow and inevitable decline. Those who knew him will remember a giant of his generation, who had a natural gift for politics and all its many machinations.

They will remember most of all that he fought on behalf of people and causes that he loved.

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of prominent trade unionist Bill Speirs.

The packed service at Renfrew Town Hall heard the former STUC general secretary described as a "great oak" of modern politics by Respect MP George Galloway.

First Minister Alex Salmond, Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray and former Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan also attended.

Take Iran and the nuclear issue. The Big Five have the weapon of a veto in the UN, because they posses enough nuclear missles to eviscerate the world many times over.

Britain, France and the USA, illegally and secretly, gave Israel - the world's No.1 lawbreaker - all the parts to build the bomb, and it has hundreds mostly pointing at Iran.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has bound us to disarm our own weapons.

I've told you Gordon's plan to comply with our obligations. Israel refuses to sign the NPT, likewise Pakistan and India. None are sanctioned. All are rewarded with our lucrative friendship. Iran signed and complied with its terms.

They don't intend to build a bomb. We see the trouble that's gotten them in to.

A CONTROVERSIAL anti-Iraq war politician is due to make a speech in Haringey.

George Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, will be delivering a speech at the West Indian Centre, in Clarendon Road on Tuesday, October 8.

Mr Galloway, a founding member of the Stop the War Coalition, will be speaking at a rally against the Afghanistan war on the 8th anniversary of its start.

The rebel MP's visit has been welcomed by Keith Flett, chairman of Haringey Trade Union Congress, who said: “It is a sobering thought that it is eight years since the ill-defined war in Afghanistan started, a war that has seen the injury and death of many British troops.

“George Galloway is the best possible person to guide anti-war sentiment in the borough about where we have been in the last eight years and where we are going now.”

George Galloway this morning welcomed Respect’s by-election victory in Sparkbrook ward, Birmingham, as “spectacular”.

“This was a great victory for Respect. We beat a strong campaign from New Labour, got more than three times the Tory vote and pushed the Lib Dems into fourth place. This will send shock waves across the city of Birmingham and beyond.” George Galloway himself spent yesterday campaigning for Respect in the by-election.

George Galloway continued: “Our detailed analysis now shows we have a very good chance of winning in our three target seats of Birmingham Hall Green with Councillor Salma Yaqoob, Bethnal Green and Bow with Councillor Abjol Miah and Poplar and Limehouse where I am challenging the discredited New Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick. My warmest congratulations to newly elected Councillor Shokat Ali who will add strongly to the team on Birmingham Council.”

Mr Galloway’s chances of beating sitting Labour minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, in Poplar and Canning Town were boosted recently by Fitpatrick’s crass gaffe in storming out of a wedding reception, and then contacting the press to condemn the couple for having segregated seating. Whatever Fitzpatrick’s personal views on segregation, this was extremely discourteous to the newly weds. It is also seemingly racist, as Fitzpatrick has never recorded any previous objection to stag nights and hen nights, which are traditionally gender segregated celebrations related to British weddings. Fitzpatrick’s highly ill advised outburst is attributed to a fierce faction fight within the local Labour Party.

Congratulations to Respect’s new councillor, Shokat Ali .

Over a thousand people joined stars from the Apprentice at this year's 'BIG IFtar' event in aid of the homeless.

The event was organised by the IF charity and supported by other aid organisations including The Salvation Army and Thames Reach, with an aim to share a Ramadan IFtar meal (breaking of the fast) with London's homeless.

Around 1500 people from all communities attended the event called 'The BIG IFtar', in East London's Altab Ali Park to raise awareness about homeless communities around the world.

Former Apprentice celebrities, Tre Azzam, Shazia Wahab, Majid Nagra and Syed Ahmed donned their aprons and chef hats to help serve large quantities of biryani (rice and chicken), prepared for over 1000 local homeless people.

Local MP George Galloway and Baroness Pola Uddin spoke at the event, alongside the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council, Lutfur Rahman.

George Galloway said, "The BIG IFtar was a great way to recognise the plight of homeless people in our very own city. I am happy to support any future plans IF has to help the homeless in this Borough in particular the idea of providing food every Friday for the homeless in conjunction with many of the restaurants of Brick Lane."

It would be foolish to conflate a few isolated incidents but to dismiss them as aberrations would be to deny the prejudice Muslims face across Europe.

A British Minister walks out of a Muslim constituent’s wedding protesting against segregation of male and female guests; a prominent moderate Muslim scholar, Tariq Ramadan, is hounded out of not one but two separate jobs for hosting a show on an Iranian television channel; aggressive right-wing campaigners in Switzerland demand removal of minarets from all mosques; and French President Nicolas Sarkozy calls for a ban on wearing burqa in public.

These incidents, occurring within days of each other in recent weeks in different parts of Europe, have coincided with a rash of new books portraying European Muslims in the darkest possible colour. Their alarmist tone has reminded many of the sort of things once written about European Jews.

Are these simply isolated events? Or is Europe in the grip of a new wave of Islamophobia?

Meanwhile, in Britain, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Minister who stormed out of a Muslim wedding protesting against the “segregation” of men and women, has been accused of “cultural insensitivity” and, worse, playing the “race card” to appease white working class voters in the run-up to next year’s general election. The latter accusation came not from the local Muslim community but from a prospective Tory candidate Tim Archer, who said: “I can’t help but feel he’s playing a certain race card to save his skin at the next election. I think it’s a desperate strategy.”

Two prominent Labour figures are at loggerheads over the decision of farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick to walk out of a Muslim wedding.

Mr Fitzpatrick told journalists he had decided to leave the ceremony rather than be separated from his wife.

Some commentators noted the high proportion of Muslim voters in Mr Fitzpatrick's constituency, and his upcoming election battle with Respect leader George Galloway, who is popular among Muslim voters.

The theory is that Mr Fitzpatrick left the wedding in order to consolidate his popularity among white working class voters.

"I suspect Mr Fitzpatrick has one eye on the general election and has mistakenly used this event for political gain," Labour peer Lord Patel of Blackburn said.

"He is playing to a section of the voters with whom anti-Muslim sentiment is appealing. This is underhand and dangerous."

It is common, but not necessary, for Muslim weddings to have a split congregation along gender lines.

The bridegroom has also demanded an apology from the minister, who he says turned his wedding into a political stunt.

A former Big Brother contestant sent for trial for stealing a policeman's baton at an anti-war demonstration has walked free after the case was dropped.

Carole Vincent, 55, who appeared on the reality TV show in 2007, had denied committing the offence on June 15, 2008.

The case was dropped when the prosecution offered no evidence against her at London's Southwark Crown Court.

Vincent, of Leytonstone, east London, dressed in a black jacket decorated with anti-war badges, said afterwards: "Common sense has prevailed, we have a right to protest. We won't be silenced."

Veteran Labour politician Tony Benn, who was in court as a witness for Vincent, welcomed the decision.

He said: "It would have been a gross injustice if she had been sentenced."

Vincent said she was arrested after picking up a baton dropped by a police officer at the Parliament Square demonstration.

The prosecution had accused her of theft.

Vincent said she was not expecting Monday's result as she had been told there would be a trial that would last about five days.

Mr Benn said he, politician George Galloway and octogenarian campaigner Walter Wolfgang had all been near Vincent when the incident occurred and had offered to make a statement when he heard she had been charged.

“Jim Fitzpatrick has lost all credibility. He should resign as a government minister.” So demanded George Galloway this morning as it emerged that Fitzpatrick’s account of events at the Muslim wedding he snubbed omitted some crucial facts.

Galloway continued: “If the account given by the groom in the Telegraph is to be believed, it now emerges that Fitzpatrick’s wife was not told by anyone in authority at the wedding that she should go to the women only section, that Fitzpatrick did not take the issue up with the wedding organisers, and that the family of the groom contacted Fitzpatrick as soon as they became aware of the misunderstanding and invited him and his wife back to the wedding to join an unsegregated table.

“This makes it abundantly clear that Fitzpatrick was simply using this wedding to pursue a political vendetta against the Islamic Forum of Europe, entirely misdirected as it turned out, and to pander to those who have prejudices against Muslims and Muslim traditions.

“Fitzpatrick chose to do this over an event that should have been the happiest day of this young couple’s life, which the families will have spent thousands of pounds organising and which Fitzpatrick was privileged to have been invited to.

“He has been an MP for a constituency with a large Muslim minority long enough and he will have attended enough Muslim weddings in that time to know that these weddings are traditionally segregated for Muslim men and women but that exceptions are almost invariably made for non-Muslim men and women on the basis that offence should not be given to those with different traditions and expectations.

“I note Fitzpatrick now says he will apologise for offending the couple and that he left the wedding discreetly. But this must be a bad joke. He went straight to the press and made a statement about his outrageous treatment at the wedding. This is unacceptable behaviour by a government minister and MP. More than that, this behaviour has discredited him as a representative of this government. If he does not do the decent thing and resign, Brown should sack him.”

ENDS

STOP PRESS

Councillor Abjol Miah has made the following statement about Fitzpatrick’s comments: “This is a cynical move from a desperate man looking to benefit from prejudice. His constituents deserve to know if this move was approved by Labour Party HQ and if Rushanara Ali, Labour’s candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow, will denounce these divisive comments.”