Respect Ability

Draw your own conclusions from the fact that the principal subject of this has favorited it on Twitter, and has retweeted it to his 127,321 followers:

There are those exclaiming that no Labour Leader should ever so much as speak to George Galloway, not even to secure his support in a tight vote when the Coalition might be defeated.

But when it comes to dictators, Galloway has never done anything remotely comparable to this. Nor has ever ever started a war. Tony Blair's highly lucrative ties to Kazakhstan and elsewhere are not considered grounds for shunning him, although they ought to be.

Respect had already been riven between supporters and opponents of the Islamist insurrection in and invasion of Syria, with Galloway in the latter camp. Whereas Labour is now led by the candidate whom the pro-life Catholic, Scottish Unionist, Eurosceptical, and never Hard Left Galloway would have nominated if he had still been a Labour MP.

Having wiped the floor with everyone in what had been a Labour-held Conservative target seat, the latter part of which is completely ignored; and having topped the poll in every ward, including those which were more than 90 per cent white, while running specifically against the Pakistani braderi machine and therefore appealing to British Pakistani youth; Galloway would presumably see no need to re-join the Labour Party, just as he could do perfectly well without Respect if he had to.

But Blairite relics who want to stick to Osbornomics howling anonymously that, "He'll be let back in over my dead body"? The mainstream Labour figure of Neil Kinnock said that publicly about Ken Livingstone. Livingstone is now back on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, at the top of the poll of the fabled "ordinary members". And Neil Kinnock is still alive.