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George happy to court controversy

George happy to court controversy

Give George Galloway his due, he’s not afraid to air his views, even if they are sometimes contrary to popular opinion.

In fact, his political career has been defined by the often controversial arguments he has brought to the table, from his opinions on the Blair and Bush administrations, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I’ve always been a rebel without pause,” said George.

“When I was a Labour MP, I was in full-scale rebellion from 1994 onwards. I’ve been against the odds always.”

And while he was expelled ultimately from that party membership, it hasn’t deterred him from having an extremely active career in politics. And then, of course, there’s his celebrity status, which blew to gargantuan proportions when his feline role play with actress Rula Lenska was aired on Celebrity Big Brother.

Whether speaking in his role as Respect MP for Bradford West, or being beamed directly into our homes on reality TV, he has ever been driven to have his say. And this is certainly the case for his current mini tour of Scotland in which he is lending his voice to the Scottish independence debate.

In the speaker event, titled Just Say Naw! – An Evening with George Galloway, coming to Aberdeen’s Music Hall on Monday, he is stating his case against independence “before it’s too late”.

He added: “I have been elected six times in four constituencies – an honour only Mr Churchill and I have the record of holding. So some people might want to hear what I’ve got to say on the question of Scottish independence. But of course, if they have a different point of view, they’re welcome to come and argue it.”

But with the vote still 10 months away, why is he doing this now?

“The white paper is imminent, and that will sharpen the debate considerably I think,” said George.

“So you could say that I’m getting my retaliation in early just before its publication.”

In essence, he believes the white paper itself will create “a lot of heat but not much light”, leaving more questions than answers to what has been a debate described by many as “cloudy at best”.

As a proud Dundonian and Scot, George’s reasons for weighing into the debate are understandable. But as an MP who is predominantly based in England, what he considers his role to be is less clear.

“At the risk of sounding immodest, I’m trying to improve the quality of the No argument,” he said.

“Whatever people think of my political views, they recognise I’m quite a good arguer. I wouldn’t like to wake up the day after the referendum and find out it has gone the wrong way, and feel that I didn’t do everything I could to influence the result.”

While he is very much in the No camp – true to his rebellious nature – George doesn’t align his views completely with Alistair Darling’s Better Together campaign. This, he said, is a product of his belief that the No campaign has been poorly put together.

He said: “I’m astonished at the lack of energy or imagination of the No campaign. First of all, they seem intent on a doom and gloom scenario, painting the case that Scotland could not be independent. I’m saying it could be, but it shouldn’t. In other words, I’m not saying that Scotland isn’t good enough, smart enough or industrious enough to be independent. It’s just that it’s not a good idea.”

He also believes that the No campaigners are under the misapprehension that “they’ve got it in the bag”. On the contrary, George believes that it could go either way.

“My analysis of the polling data is that between 40% and 45% of the people are saying they are voting No to independence, and between 25% and 30% are voting Yes. But that leaves between 25% and 35% undecided, and that’s too close for comfort for me. This is not a decision that can be undone. Once the country is broken up, that’s it.”

And that is the nub of George’s position. That, even although he is a key criticiser of Mr Darling’s campaign, he believes we truly are better together.

“We are a small island of English-speaking people who have been together for 300 years and have huge banks of shared history. It’s not a small thing to break up a small country.”

Add to that some predictably strong views on Alex Salmond’s proposal of independence, and you get a fairly good idea of what Monday night’s evening with George Galloway will be like. It’ll be impassioned, entertaining, conversational and perhaps slightly controversial.

“Maybe nobody will show up,” he added with a smile.

“But hundreds of people have already bought tickets for my evening in Glasgow, and that indicates that perhaps the level of debate hasn’t yet been to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Just Say Naw! – An Evening with George Galloway will be held at the Music Hall, Aberdeen, on Monday, November 18, at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from www.aberdeen performingarts.com or by calling 01224 641122.