Mark Casci: Why firebrand MP Galloway is just what Bradford needs

Like or loathe him (and there’s plenty in both camps), the Scottish firebrand – and Respect MP – has never been far away from controversy and the 18 months since his sensational victory over the expected-to-win Labour candidate have not disappointed.

The latest is Galloway falling out with his local Respect party after he loudly signalled his intention to run for London Mayor in 2016.

Five Respect councillors who were voted onto Bradford Council on the back of Galloway’s success (voters were given the option of voting for “Respect Party George Galloway” rather than merely “Respect Party”) have quit the party, saying his Bradford West constituents should be his priority.

They are right because Galloway, like him or not, may prove to be the best thing to happen to Bradford in years.

Bradford, once one of the nation’s industrial powerhouses, has faced a steady decline in recent decades, while a series of political leaders have watched helplessly, unwilling or unable (generally both) to do a thing about it.

This resulted in a culture where city leaders were strong on rhetoric but light on substance. Following the race riots of 2001 a decision was taken to “focus on the positives” of Bradford in order to defend the city’s crumbling reputation.

Any internal attempt to highlight social and economic problems was characterised as disloyalty and the results of this pompous “we know best” culture of Bradford’s elite are evident from a mere five-minute stroll around the city centre.

Under New Labour much hot air was sounded over a variety of pie-in-the-sky schemes to regenerate the city which attracted much positive local publicity but very little objective scrutiny.

Compulsory purchase orders were made and a large swathe of the city centre reduced to rubble to make way for a shopping centre. First mooted 15 years ago, it remains an embarrassing hole in the ground, a daily reminder to Bradfordians of their city’s hard times.

Notwithstanding the City Park development, much of the once proud city centre was in an increasingly dilapidated state.

However the only group of people in Bradford who seemed unperturbed were the city’s politicians and leading figures, who blamed the economy – or anything else – to deflect attention from their own inertia and complacency.

It appeared that this sorry culture was built to last until April 2012 when Galloway upset the odds and galvanised the city’s youth and minority votes, as well as abject dissatisfaction with the main political parties, to win Bradford West after 36.59 per cent swing from Labour.

Never one to shy away from powerful rhetoric he immediately put the local political establishment on notice that things were going to change, proclaiming a “Bradford Spring”.

And one cannot deny his election has brought much change to the city.

He was able to quickly build on his party’s success with a strong performance in the council elections in May which saw Respect gain five seats on the council, including that of council leader Ian Greenwood who was humiliatingly dumped out of office as a result.

His replacement, Labour’s Dave Green, has quickly proved to be a good operator and far more willing to listen to constituents. As a result there has been some progress, albeit very slow, on the Westfield centre – a state of affairs brought about in part by the fact that the derelict site was occupied for several weeks by protesters, supported by Galloway – who signalled to the city that enough was enough and that Bradford would not tolerate inaction any longer.

Galloway also threw his lot in with the numerous, well-versed campaigners who had been fighting for years to save the Odeon building. Within months, the long-standing myth that its internal structure was unsafe was debunked and the iconic building is now back in local hands as a number of exciting options for its future are debated.

And, despite being consistent in his vociferous criticism of the three mainstream parties, he happily put this aside when the city’s Media Museum was threatened, entering into a bipartisan group with fellow Bradford MPs to battle to keep it open – a pursuit that ultimately proved successful.

Naturally, Galloway being Galloway, his time in Yorkshire has not been without its controversies.

Within weeks he faced strident criticism from across the board for ill-advised and ill-conceived comments on the issue of rape, claiming that the allegations against Wikileaks activist Julian Assange merely constituted “bad sexual etiquette”.

A Yorkshire Post investigation of his voting record showed he had missed 87 per cent of all Commons votes during his first year as a Yorkshire MP and spoken in just seven debates, although he did point out that these records did not reflect his work behind-the-scenes on behalf of his constituents, when not presenting shows for Middle East TV channels.

However the notoriety appears to have emboldened rather than quietened Galloway, so much so that he is now openly discussing the possibility of running for Mayor of London in 2016.

Having upset the apple-cart so massively in 2012, he probably feels that there is no such thing as a lost cause when his name appears on the ballot paper.

The odds may appear stacked against him now, one bookie is offering 25-1 odds of a London Spring getting under way.

However such a move would be a shame for Bradford as it needs Galloway now more than ever before.

The city needs that continual thorn in the side of its established power structures, a dissident voice speaking up for disenfranchised and maligned communities. In short it needs exactly the same kind of firebrand, practical socialism that Galloway has espoused his entire life. George Galloway can do so much more good for the city by doing what he is doing now.

Politicians should be inspired to their calling out of a sense of duty to public service, not a desire to have their name in lights.

If he can shake the city out of complacency and even come close to helping it emulate its former glories, all Bradfordians will be in his debt.

Galloway’s war of words in Syria debate

GEORGE Galloway’s oratory was heard during the House of Commons debate on the Syria crisis.

“There is no compelling evidence – to use the Leader of the Opposition’s words – that the Assad regime is responsible for this crime, yet.

“It is not that the regime is not bad enough to do it; everybody knows that it is bad enough to do it. The question is: is it mad enough to do it?

“Is it mad enough to launch a chemical weapons attack in Damascus on the very day on which a United Nations chemical weapons inspection team arrives there?

“That must be a new definition of madness. Of course, if Assad is that mad, how mad will he be once we have launched a blizzard of Tomahawk cruise missiles on his country?”