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Spectator
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Nigel Farage and George Galloway share a common problem
A more gracious person would refrain from saying, 'I told you so', but I'm not a gracious person. So, as George Galloway announces his backing for another Scottish independence referendum, allow me to say – nay, crow – I told you so. Galloway, leader of the Workers party, says he and his party 'support the right of the Scots to self-determination' and that 'the time for another referendum is close'. He adds: 'Speaking personally, I can no longer support the British state as presently constituted.' If you're familiar with politics north of the border, you might be wondering if this is the same George Galloway who travelled Scotland in 2014 on his Just Say Naw tour, urging an anti-independence vote in that year's referendum. It is indeed the man who said: 'It sickens me that the country of my birth is threatened by such obsolescent dogma. Flags and borders do not matter a jot.' Galloway hasn't stopped being a Unionist; he never was one It is also the man who was the face (though not the leader) of All for Unity, which rocked up on the scene ahead of the 2021 Holyrood elections and declared itself the anti-independence alliance that would unite the pro-Union parties. This was news to the pro-Union parties and they responded with the political equivalent of 'new fone, who dis?' All for Unity more than earned the disregard it received. It was essentially a Twitter account doing a bad impersonation of a political party, but what it lacked in electoral strategy it made up for in digital noisemaking. Its social media outriders took a particular dislike to me, which is shocking because I'm lovely. All I'd done was repeatedly point out in The Spectator that they were a hopeless shower of political halfwits. Some people can be very sensitive. I didn't just argue that All for Unity risked splitting the anti-independence vote, I pointed out that it wasn't all that anti-independence. For one, its tactical voting guide endorsed a Labour MSP who had called on Boris Johnson to hand powers over referendums to Holyrood. For another, its lead candidate on the South of Scotland list was George Galloway. Just a few years earlier, he had said it would be a 'democratic monstrosity' if Westminster refused Holyrood another referendum. A few years before that, he had explained why he wasn't joining the official No campaign in the Scottish referendum: 'because it's a Unionist campaign, because it flies the Union Jack. I hate the Union Jack.' Galloway hasn't stopped being a Unionist; he never was one. Galloway has gone from opposing independence in 2014, to asserting Scotland's right to indyref2 in 2017, to campaigning against indyref2 in 2021, to reverting to support for indyref2 in 2025. He's pivoted more times than Mikhail Baryshnikov. And here's where I get to gloat. Total vindication: unlocked. This is one of the paradoxes of populism. Voters will often say, 'At least you know where you stand with him', when the him in question routinely adopts stances and ditches them again without any intervening search of the soul. 'Every politician does that,' you might protest. 'My point exactly,' I would reply. Populists claim politicians are all the same, then set about proving it. This unreliability is a hallmark not only of leftist populism but of its right-wing counterpart. Reform is an obvious example. Is Nigel Farage's party left or right, authoritarian or libertarian, interventionist or market-driven? Is it pro- or anti-economic migration, for or against multiculturalism, all-in or sceptical on devolution? The answer is that it holds all of these positions, switching out one for another as expediency (or the leader's whims) demands. Populism is very useful if you aim to disrupt the status quo but its lack of ideological or intellectual moorings leaves it vulnerable to mainstream capture. When voters become anxious about political turmoil, they can turn to the reassuring and the familiar, and populists have no option but to follow them. If disruption is all you aim for, populism is all you require, but if you want to replace the established order with a new one, you also need a philosophy that is held sincerely, fiercely and with constancy. Reform has no such philosophy and is too fragile a coalition of conflicting interests and incoherent instincts to acquire one between now and the next election. As such, the party can only be reactive, loudly opposing everything Labour does and reminding the Tories of everything they failed to do. Farage need only point to the parlous state of Britain to dramatise the ill effects of Labour and Tory governance. That might be enough to win a general election but it is not a strategy for implementing the kind of transformation (political, cultural, institutional) that national revival demands. Reform gives voters an opportunity to chuck a spanner in the gears but offers no prospect of new machinery. Nigel Farage, like George Galloway, is a populist and populism is all you'll ever get from him. Trust me: I told you so before.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Former Glasgow MP announces support for second indy ref
He posted: 'We support the right of the Scots to self-determination. Eleven years after they last did so we believe the time for another referendum is close. 'Given the collapsing authority of the British state, the pitiful prime minister Starmer and the moral decline of British society, the result cannot easily be predicted. Britain has become a cesspit.' The Dundee-born politician served as MP for Glasgow West and Kelvin between 1987 and 2005. He was expelled from Labour in 2003 after making comments critical of the war in Iraq. He has long opposed Scottish independence, touring the country in the run-up to the 2014 referendum to stump for a 'no' vote. However, don't take Galloway for a surprise SNP convert. Posting to X several hours later, he added: 'Frankly the only thing that can stop Britain breaking up is the greenery, quackery and wokery of the SNP.' Galloway previously founded the staunchly unionist All for Unity party. Ahead of the Holyrood elections in 2021, he said: 'Politicians at Holyrood are rightly criticised for having little experience of the real world. "We've got, without doubt, the most qualified and capable candidate list of any party to take the fight to the separatists in the next Scottish Parliament. "All For Unity will open the books of the Scottish Parliament, tackle the scourge of separatism and save our Scotland". The party did not win any seats at the election and was deregistered in 2022.
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Ex-Unionist party leader backs Scottish independence referendum
The ex-Labour MP, who formerly led the now-defunct Unionist All for Unity party, has said he now supports the "right of Scots to self-determination" having been opposed to it his entire political life. In 2021, he pledged to "tackle the scourge of separatism" when All for Unity launched their Scottish Parliament election manifesto. But in a surprise post on social media on Monday, he appeared to have completely changed his tune, adding that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was "pitiful" and that Britain had become a "cesspit". He posted on Twitter/X: "We support the right of the Scots to self-determination. Eleven years after they last did so, we believe the time for another referendum is close. READ MORE: Yvette Cooper: Palestine Action to be proscribed as terrorist organisation "Given the collapsing authority of the British state the pitiful prime minister Starmer the moral decline of British society the result cannot easily be predicted. Britain has become a cesspit." Following the collapse of All for Unity, Galloway has been leading the Workers Party of Britain since founding it in 2019. Originally from Dundee, he made a surprise return to politics when he won the Rochdale by-election following the death of Labour's Tony Lloyd, but he subsequently lost the seat at the General Election. He had dedicated his win in Rochdale to Palestine. In his victory speech he said: 'Keir Starmer: this is for Gaza." Last year, when he called a press conference to mark his return to Parliament, he said he was not 'going to fight against the SNP in here', saying his involvement in Scottish politics was over. He said while he was 'not a supporter of the SNP' he thought the party had been 'outstanding on the Gaza question, at least by comparison with the two big parties of the state'.
