I must admit I never saw that coming! I did briefly wonder why George Galloway was standing for election in a predominantly Asian constituency in Yorkshire given that he is a white Scotsman. I did notice that huge placards had suddenly appeared on the Bradford streets announcing that this one man party was standing for election as the 'Respect' party . I did wonder how good old George could afford that kind of publicity and now we know.Years ago when I left the army I attended a resettlement course in London. Sometime during the course I was partnered with an RAF Corporal called Patel. We had to devise a business plan to sell 'widgets'. Now I had never met a 'Patel' in those days or a 'Singh' or a 'Mohammed' as I had spent 22 years in the army being cushioned against the rising tide of immigration. I was therefore unaware that racism existed and I thought that Corporal Patel was a decent guy (he was). He scribbled down a few figures for our business plan which I thought were ludicrous but his reply has forever remained with me, 'Sir you may outrank me by a good few tiers but you Brits know nothing about business. Leave this to me and we will wipe out the rest of them'...and we did.
At lunch he educated me about the millionaires in the 'Patel' club and how the money was all going back to India. He loved the RAF but could no longer reject the opportunities open to him in civilian life. I suspect that the is now a very rich guy...but back to George.
I think that George has recognised the power of the Asian community in our midst. Traditionally they have voted Labour (ask Jack Straw MP for Blackburn) but I believe that for whatever reason they have given Labour a kicking. Don't get me wrong because the Labour party has deserved a kicking for a long time but this is highly significant. Bradford West could be a turning point.
George Galloway is an eloquent and articulate orator. He is once again entering Westmonster so he has got his wish. The Asian community, who chaired him out of the polling station, have also won because they now have a British candidate representing them. I wonder what the trade off is? Somehow and I don't know why but I don't think that this is a good day for democracy. I should really be pleased that a minority party has defeated the 'modernisers' but something troubles me about this result. I suppose time will tell.
4 comments:
If it 'awakens' the masses to the fact that you can vote for other parties than the 3 main ones then i consider this a fantastic breakthrough. It was worth it just to hear his 'path of treason set by Tony Blair over 20yrs ago' speech and the squirmy look on Ed Milliband's face !! :-) made my day!!
Yes I agree SAB. I haven't seen the 'path of treason' speech so I must seek it out. No wonder Miliband is squirming. To lose a safe Labour seat is a mighty indicator that he is not up to the job. Shocking result for UKIP though. She was not a good candidate and if they are to make progress then they must do better!
The video of his winning speech was on the BBC News website. Hopefully it's still there and they haven't been ordered to remove it yet. Yes very dissapointing for UKIP. They need to step it up somehow. Maybe get an agent to sell dinner with Nigel for donations :-). (why was that even news by the way?)
I've seen it now! George really milked it but he has an uncanny knack of resonating with the public. He could be a real maverick in Westmonster if 'Squeaky' Bercow ever gives him an opportunity. I agree why was the access to 'Dave' even an issue. They are all at it. It is called fund raising! Tks for your interest.
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