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Galloway: Why I back Red Ken |
There's a witch-hunt going on against London Mayor Ken Livingstone - and it has nothing to do with bendy buses, those ugliest of broomsticks he's introduced, his bizarre backing of Met commissioner Sir Ian Blair, or the privatisation of the East London line.
It used to be said that being attacked in the New Statesman was like being slandered in an empty room. Nowadays, their political editor, Martin Bright, can count on everyone from the pro-war Observer, through the Murdoch empire to the Rothermere stable, to spread his poison against Livingstone.
Thus in the recent Dispatches assault on the re-election of the mayor, widely previewed in the Sunday Times and the Evening Standard, Channel 4 gave over a full hour of prime-time TV to the political assassination of Livingstone. For those of us of a certain age it was a reprise of the 1980s campaign of vilification that led to the abolition of the Livingstone-led GLC. Except this time it was "Arab women's groups" rather than "lesbian wrestlers" whose funding was singled out for ridicule. And Livingstone's support for Muslims, rather than the Irish, which earned him the lash.
But there was another important difference. Whereas with the GLC, the witch-hunt was mounted by self-avowed Thatcherites, this time the attack is being mounted from "within"; by the cell of self-styled critics of "Islamofascism" increasingly led by Bright and the Observer/Evening Standard pro-Iraq occupation columnist Nick Cohen.
A succession of Whittaker Chambers' - former leftists turned renegade - were produced by Bright, and suitably shadowy they were too. Chambers, you'll recall, was the former communist turned apostate who "revealed" that celebrated senior US state department official Alger Hiss was a red under the White House bed. In this affair former black radical Marc Wadsworth, "revealed" that in the early-1990s many of Livingstone's top staffers were on the far left (like several of Tony Blair's cabinet). And gay rights hyper-activist Peter Tatchell plunged the knife into the mayor - the country's longest-serving gay-friendly politician - because of Livingstone's support for Muslims.
Some may be surprised at the authorship of this article. After all Livingstone was last seen in my constituency with a phalanx of police officers, wading through the jeers on Brick Lane accompanied by one Oona King. His vain attempt to defeat me in the Bethnal Green and Bow seat in 2005 - despite the fact that King was a cheerleader for the war he had so recently opposed - was not his finest hour. But I'm not the type to harbour grudges.
Not that all is well at City hall; there is an urgent need for change. Just not the change from Livingstone to Boris Johnson. There are problems of accountability in the Livingstone mayoralty. It seems clear that he treats the Greater London Assembly with contempt. But that is surely not helped by the fact that most of the members of the GLA are contemptible. Ask yourself to name a single member of the GLA now in the eighth year of its anonymous existence. Or anything that they have ever done.
What London needs is an assembly worthy of one of the world's greatest capitals. And one strong enough that the mayor would ignore it only at his peril. That's why I'm currently involved in trying to put together a progressive list for the May elections to renew London's democracy. I will be a candidate somewhere on that list myself! If I'm elected you can be sure Livingstone won't be able to ignore me!
Take the 2012 London Olympics for example. The Olympic logo has five rings. There needs to be a sixth, representing London's people and their interests. As things stand, billions of pounds will be blown - £125m of it blasted away on a temporary shooting range in the grounds of the Royal Arsenal that will be dismantled 15 days later. Other Olympic developments risk being white elephants, a standing reproach for decades after the games are gone, like in Montreal.
With New Labour sinking in a morass of party funding scandals, the Northern Wreck fiasco, throwing discs of personal data around the country's wastelands, persisting in the bizarre special relationship with George W Bush and a looming recession, there is now the clear and present danger of Tory buffoon Boris Johnson beating Livingstone in the forthcoming ballot. This would be a disaster for London and the left.
City Hall would then be in the hands of, not former leftists, but unreconstructed Thatcherites. Out would go supporters of Hugo Chávez, in would come apologists for Augusto Pinochet and Livingstone's approach of anti-racism and ethnic and religious harmony, replaced by a man who talks of "piccanninies" with their "watermelon smiles". Livingstone, the opponent of the Iraq war, replaced by Johnson, its firm supporter.
In these new and developing circumstances, it would be self-indulgence, a luxury the left can no longer afford, to stand a candidate of the left against Livingstone for mayor. The danger of his defeat by the right is too great. With opinion polls varying between neck-and-neck and a substantial Tory lead, a left candidate opposing Livingstone really could aid the Tories and risk handing the keys to City Hall to the rancid reactionaries around Johnson.
Any stick will do for the right to beat up Livingstone. Within the same vile Dispatches programme he was portrayed as both a closet communist and an Islamist fundamentalist; while being both soft on sharia law while slugging back tumblers of whisky at the taxpayers' expense. Traduced for supporting Cuba and Venezuela and funding black and ethnic minority organisations by the same white liberals who would once have been advocating exactly the same thing. The left should rally round Ken Livingstone in these new circumstances - but elect a progressive list to a beefed-up London assembly with real powers, to make sure that he doesn't step out of line! |
News and articles of interest
Here are some articles and news reports we think are worth looking at
Poll of polls shows Labour at its most unpopular since 1935 by Nigel Morris
Gordon Brown is leading Labour to its worst electoral defeat since the 1930s, according to a new "poll of polls" for The Independent. On current levels of support, Labour would lose almost half its MPs at the next election and David Cameron would become Prime Minister with an overwhelming majority. The backlash against Labour has left the party with the support of just 27 per cent of voters, the weighted average of last month's polls for The Independent shows.
Unmanned spy planes to police Britain by Kim Sengupta
The Government is drawing up plans to use unmanned "drone" aircraft currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to counter terrorism and aid police operations in Britain. The MoD is carrying out research and development to enable the spy planes, which are equipped with highly sophisticated monitoring equipment that allows them to secretly track and photograph suspects without their knowledge, to be deployed within three years.
The Camp for Climate Action, at Kingsnorth, Kent, 3rd to 11th August - full details
Wednesday 10 am update. Local MP Bob Marshall-Andrews condems police action at climate camp (see BBC article), saying "I find the use of police in riot gear incomprehensible and I think it was a mistake." He also described the actions of the police as "provocation."
Diego Garcia: the UK's shame by Andy Worthington
The ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus wrote: "In war, truth is the first casualty." These words are particularly apt in relation to the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia, leased to the United States in 1971, where the truth – that a secret "War on Terror" prison existed from 2002 until as recently as 2006 – has been persistently denied by both the British and American governments.
The Horror Of Israeli Occupation - documentary developed by Chaim Yavin
West Bank Checkpoints
A video clip that dramatically portrays the meeting of Israeli solders and Palestinians at controversial West Bank security checkpoints. This clip is the second of a series taken from "Land of the Settlers", the acclaimed documentary developed by Chaim Yavin, Israel's premier news anchor.
Anger at police raid on green camp ahead of coal protest by Matthew Taylor
Environmental campaigners and politicians criticised the police last night after around 200 officers raided a climate camp, seizing hundreds of items that they claimed could be used to break the law. Activists at the camp, which starts today with a series of workshops on sustainable energy and social justice, said the raid aimed to disrupt legitimate protest.
Morning Star Back on Track After Office Fire by Tomasz Pierscionek
In the early hours of Monday morning (last week), an electrical fire broke out at William Rust House, the East London office of the socialist newspaper the Morning Star. The fire, believed to have been caused by a malfunctioning air-conditioner, broke out at approximately 3am and caused considerable structural damage to both the interior of the Morning Star's newsroom and the equipment within, knocking out both electrical power and phone lines.
Venezuela Bridges Diplomatic Fissures and Polishes Alliances in European Tour by James Suggett
Rounding off a diplomatic tour of Europe that began with Tuesday's controversial visit in Russia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez mended relations with the Spanish government, set up a bi-national commerce commission with Portugal, and eliminated visa requirements to facilitate bilateral accords with Belarus this week.
Why David Cameron Blames the Poor by Peter Taylor-Gooby
David Cameron's 'blaming the poor' speech in Glasgow may be more than just an attempt to placate the unreconstructed right of the Conservative party. It is not often recognised how far British public opinion has shifted towards a liberal individualist stance on social issues in recent years. In some ways we are more Thatcherite under New Labour than we ever were under the Conservatives.
Star names set to top the bill at Carnegie Festival - Dunfermline Press
TWO of the best-known faces on television will be making personal appearances in Dunfermline next month as part of the inaugural Carnegie Festival, from 21st August to 7th September.
Evan Davis will be in dialogue with fiesty MP George Galloway in a conversation on Saturday, 23rd August, at 7.30pm in the Carnegie Hall. Tickets, priced £5, are available from the Carnegie Hall box office.
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