A somewhat convoluted track towards this comment.. but still.. the Guardian Diary’s Oliver Burkeman notes “One more heave, come the next election, and the voters of Cork – revolutionary fervour surging through their veins – may yet oust the lickspittle Labour puppets from No 10! At least we think that’s how it works.” Explanatory notes over the fold.When the Labour Government’s latest Terror Bill approached the House of Commons, the Guardian Newsblog was among the first to noticed that the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow had neglected to vote.. despite the fact that, as Harry’s Place also noted, his organisation had been among the foremost critics of the bill and had been exorting others to vote against it.
Although, of course, there are other MPs who didn’t attend the vote.
But, still, given his organisation’s declared opposition to the Bill it is significant that the one vote they should have been able to count on didn’t attend.. instead the audience at the Cork Everyman Palace Theatre had the benefit of his attendance.. and, after Belfast last night.. tonight that honour falls on Derry.
And so, via ourselves.. *ahem*.. and via Andrew Ian Dodge.. and via Scott Burgess.. I can reveal what you should already know.. from the Guardian Diary’s Oliver Burkeman –
Precisely what family emergency, we wonder, could have been so distressing that George Galloway couldn’t make it to the Commons on Wednesday night to vote against the government’s terror bill? Since his vote would have eliminated the despised Blair junta’s majority of one, we fear it must be something grave. What a relief, then – for the wellbeing of George’s nearest and dearest, if nothing else – to discover that it was just another instalment of An Audience With George Galloway, this time at the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork. And yet charges of eye-poppingly unprincipled egomania, levelled all too frequently against the poor man, are surely unfair in this instance. One more heave, come the next election, and the voters of Cork – revolutionary fervour surging through their veins – may yet oust the lickspittle Labour puppets from No 10! At least we think that’s how it works.