George Galloway on Big Brother

by BB in a he ha Thu May 31, 2007 12:14

Respect has another member on the new series of BB. Carole. A weird sort of entryism?

by Gorgeous George Thu Jan 26, 2006 14:15

So George has let his ego get the better of him and made the political blunder of the decade by entering LA LA land.

The yanks couldn't break him, Blair couldn't break him so much like the USSR he decided to break himself.

But would I vote for him in the next General Election if I could? Who else would I vote for in that area????

No matter what you think of him as an individual (personally I think he's an egomaniac) Big Brother is still out to get him (the powers that be not the show). Only today the Telegraph a right wing rag lost its appeal against the courts decision to award GG damages for lies they printed saying he was paid by Saddam. They have run up costs of 2million sterling in legal costs and intend appealing this decision in the House of Lords

by observer Thu Jan 26, 2006 13:22

Don't watch the crap but saw some of the footage on breakfast tv. Red leotard, involved in some dominatrix thing with Rula whatsherface.

No doubt George's totalitarian heroes were not adverse to a bit of that themselves, but they did it in the privacy of their own dachas/villas/palace.

As the famous Democrat poster about Nixon said: Would you vote for this man?

Fuck no!

by Big Bro Thu Jan 26, 2006 13:18

Crowds of Big Brother fans booed the Respect MP as he left the building and later said: "I don't normally lose elections and this was a big one."

Defending his appearance on the reality show, Mr Galloway said he usually travels the country speaking to people but he "figured it was a good idea to speak to five million people every night."

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1210360,00.html

-=-=-=-

George exlained why he did it in the first place...
'Secondly, I'm doing it for the audience. The biggest audience I will ever have. Every night on prime-time television millions of viewers will tune in. Almost everyone in the country will see at least a part of at least one episode.'

http://www.respectcoalition.org/elect/news.php?ite=960

'The biggest audience I will ever have'

by gay geori Thu Jan 26, 2006 01:42 gg at bearla dot ie http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/news/newsstory.jsp?id=1846

... george has been evicted. the interviews with him should be VERY interesting...

by larkin Wed Jan 25, 2006 22:08

What do you expect from a man that loves the luxury lifestyle, but wishes (the other) half of Europe was still in the Soviet bloc.

On a more more touchy subject the whole religious dimension of Respect put his socialism under further question.

by Big Bro Wed Jan 25, 2006 16:26

Labour MP Steve Pound said: "He's gone from imitating a cat to wearing a catsuit. Next he'll be advertising cat food. I actually feel sorry for him because that's the only future he's got.

"When he returns to the House of Commons there is going to be such a chorus of 'Meow'. He'll have a saucer of milk waiting for him and a litter tray."

http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/21516694?source=PA&ct=5

Meow.

by gay geori Mon Jan 23, 2006 21:59 gg at bearla dot ie

Nice to see George and Pete with large parts.

by Lula Rula Mon Jan 23, 2006 16:33

The Respect MP, already under fire for taking part in the show instead of representing his constituents, ad-libbed a dance routine for his latest stunt.

His dance partner was, of course, Pete Burns. The transvestite lead singer of 1980s band Dead or Alive wore a blue leotard, even though he insisted he would not run from a burning house in it.

The pair were amusingly instructed to express 'the emotions of bewilderment when a small puppy won't come to you' through the medium of robotic dance. This was part of a task set for housemates to illustrate emotions through dance.

http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/celebbb/articles/21499605?source=Metro&ct=5

Dead or Alive

by holly wood Mon Jan 16, 2006 03:47

from
The Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1686303,00.html

Cat's whiskers: George and Rula at play

Rula is with George in the living area. He is on the sofa and she is on the rug. Big Brother has suggested they try some animal role play exercises to warm up for the tasks ahead.

George: "Would you like me to be the cat?"

Rula: "Yes please."

[George proceeds to clamber down on to the rug beside Rula, and purrs throughout the exchange.]

Rula: "Here pussy, pussy, pussy, yes ... more tickles it's OK ... Oooh little pussy cat, there there pussy cat ..."

[George slowly licks his lips.]

Rula: "You stay there, I'll get you some milk, you like that don't you ..."

[Rula pretends to get some milk. George is now on all fours, lapping pretend cream from Rula's cupped hands.]

Rula: "Yes, good pussy cat ... that's right, delicious! Good girl, good girl ..."

[George licks his lips and moustache.]


....


When he steps out into the real world, Mr Galloway may regret his decision to accept the producer's challenge to mimic a pet on live television last night. He may feel his flirtation with a reality TV youth audience was not worth the loss of credibility that many of his critics claimed yesterday was an inevitable consequence.

...

"The producer admitted George has talked a lot about politics and they censored it out. It's the height of cynicism when you accept a controversial MP, with the expectation that the audience will find him controversial, and then silence him, citing the Broadcasting Act. It's political censorship. The idea was to reach a mass audience, including some of the third of 18- to 24-year-olds who didn't vote in the last election."


Watch the video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1532509206579317476&q=George+Galloway

"Yes, good pussy cat ... that's right, delicious! Good girl, good girl ..."

'The producer admitted George has talked a lot about politics and they censored it out'

by littlebrother Sat Jan 14, 2006 02:02

John Rees on Radio Four
11/01/2006


Transcript from Radio 4's PM program, broadcast on Monday 9th January 2006.


Interviewer: I'm joined live by the National Secretary of Respect, John Rees. Welcome to the programme. I think you take the view that actually Mr. Galloway's constituents are still being relatively well served.

John Rees: Well they are being better served just at the moment than they are by most MPs because actually for most of the time George has been in the Big Brother house, the House has been in recess, most MP's will have gone on holiday, very few of them will have held a surgery as Respect did in Bethnal Green and Bow last Friday and as far as I know none of them will be representing the views of their constituents, the views on which George Galloway was elected, to a national audience of close to 8 million.

Interviewer: He said at the election that his constituents had been grossly abandoned by other parties

John Rees: Yes I believe that's true, most of his constituents were against the war and most of the major parties were in favour of the war. Most of his constituents are against housing privatisation but most of the major parties are in favour of housing privatisation.

Interviewer: Where will Mr Galloway be when the big vote on Crossrail comes up in the Commons.

John Rees: No you have been misinformed. There is no big vote on Crossrail, you must not just read out the Labour Party's press release from today as if it was fact with out checking.

Interviewer: That wasn't my source for the information tell me about the other votes he is going to miss.

John Rees: No let me correct you because you have to get the facts right. What is happening is that there is a committee stage of the Crossrail bill this week which George Galloway would not be entitled to attend and two technical motions in the House of Commons. George Galloway spoke and voted against Crossrail unlike New Labour who put it through at the last and second reading. He will be at the next reading where he will also vote against it, and he has his own petition along with other constituents on this question going through the House of Commons at the moment.

Interviewer: What about all the other votes he is going to miss?

John Rees: Well on lots of votes if you are a single MP you have very little influence over the outcome. The thing with George is that he has to do what whole major parties do with their entire staff, he has to both represent the party in the media, in international affairs, in the House of Commons, in the constituency and that involves choices and one of the choices that he made. Perhaps not everybody would have made the same choice and perhaps some of us think that the difficulties of getting over the political message on the Big Brother house are very great and indeed now Channel Four has now started censoring the political remarks that he's making, playing bird noises over the top of them, refusing last night to play his account of what made him famous outside the BB house.

Interviewer: Is it news to you that Channel 4 has editorial direction over the program?

John Rees: No but it is news to me and it will certainly be news to George, I am absolutely convinced that it was not in his contract that those kind of comments would be edited out of the program. But what ever you think about that question of censorship, the fact of the matter is that it is an MP's job to take whatever opportunity he can to get onto the media to express views of his constituents and of his party.

Interviewer: So to be clear and I think this is what you are hinting at, the constituents are going to have to take a back seat while he does his job as leader of Respect, getting the wider party view out there.

John Rees: No, not at all. He was elected on the party's policies, he was elected as an anti-war MP and he was elected because he was opposed to privatisation. I must say this, there have been now seven ballots on housing privatisation in Tower Hamlets, George Galloway has spoken at tens of housing meetings on local estates, we have won five of the seven ballots and I don't think that any other MP campaigning against the privatisation of council housing could make the same claim. George Galloway has done an enormous amount of work in the constituency, not many MP's have a weekly surgery in the way that he does. He has attempted here - and we will be able to assess the success or failure of this in the longer run - but he has attempted here to advance the political ideas for which he was elected by the constituents for Bethnal Green and Bow.

Interviewer: Other reality programs get bigger audiences what about a protest song on the X factor?

John Rees: Well there are difficulties with these programmes, I'm sure George would say likewise they are designed to humiliate and degrade the people who take part in them.

But I'll tell you what, if more serious news programs like this had reported for instance George's speech at the one thousand five hundred strong anti-war conference in London in December, if they'd reported the speeches that he made on the question of housing in his constituency then perhaps we wouldn't have to go to these lengths to get an alternative view into the media.

Interviewer: John Rees from Respect, Thank-you.

by Trotwatch Fri Jan 13, 2006 22:37

This statement from John Rees is in this week's British Socialist Worker - obviously the SWP are embarrassed and cannot control Gorgeous George!!

"George Galloway has issued his own statement about appearing on Big Brother. In it he says he did it to raise money for a Palestinian charity, which he will, and to reach out to an audience turned off by conventional politics.

Nevertheless lots of people feel that it’s not an appropriate way for an MP to spend their time. People in their workplaces and communities say that many Respect supporters don’t think that this was a good idea.

We didn’t know that George Galloway was going to go on the programme until 24 hours before it happened. We didn’t agree with the idea, but by that stage the die was cast and the contract signed.

But what matters is the stand George has taken against war and neo-liberalism. That’s why we continue to support him and Respect. We stick by our allies, even if we feel they have made a mistake.

Respect arises out of a deep social process of alienation from the Labour Party—and that process will go on. Those in New Labour who complain that George is not representing his constituents are the same people who voted for war and privatisation in the face of opposition from their constituents.

And come May, people will not decide to vote Respect or New Labour on the basis of Big Brother. Our main job is to stick to the perspective we put forward when we formed Respect and concentrate on the preparations for the May elections."

by Davy Carlin Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:28

I watched the show last night and my partner and I physically cringed as George crawled around the floor purring like a cat.

I don't know if George really knew what 'Cele Big Brother was about. I had presumed he {or his advisors} would have looked at the situation tactically and in great detail, given the grief his Respect organisation {party?} already gets.

Whatever the reasons for going in, I believe if he is booted out tonight? his time would have been completly counter - productive and detrimental to an extent, but if he stays in who knows what can happen - given the complexities of the show.

As for getting politics accross well I have heard there has been little - and even if there was - it will be him crawling around like a cat that will be the thing that will stick in most viewers heads {unless they get him to do even more ridiculous things}.

I am all for a laugh but I think they have moved to begin to 'intentionally' {?} take the piss out off him and making him look ridiculous, {as well as others - and that is what is coming across - and it will be he who will be focused on as an MP} -and that ain't good in the sphere of politics George and his Respect operate in.

This on top of the questions that of course were {and are} going to be asked about his non - representation of his area - which on watching some interviews, his media people are not handling effectively at all.

To get involved in such you need to be well prepared, but for some one like George you need to ensure all - ALL - your flanks are covered -

I do not think that they fully looked into this- but I hope that George gets to stay in a little longer and not be the first to be booted out - as things tend to get a little 'easier once things get more 'settled' over time, and people can begin to really get to grips with people's 'real personallties

Will watch with interest and hopefully will not have to cringe again. D

by A Guerin Thu Jan 12, 2006 00:41

Because it's a big nationalist anti-socialist conspiracy. Take away the jargon and the Socialist Workers sound very much like RTE.

by A Guerin Thu Jan 12, 2006 00:40

Because it's a big nationalist anti-socialist conspiracy. Take away the jargon and the Socialist Workers sound very much like RTE.

by gay geori Wed Jan 11, 2006 14:20 gg at bearla dot ie

He's been nominated for eviction. And there's an internet campaign to gte him back to work, outlining, in "latest casualty" style his cost to the British taxpayer for his antics on TV so far.

by giggle Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:15

-

by The Beeb Tue Jan 10, 2006 19:10

Tony Blair has launched a new Respect campaign http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4554179.stm

by Byran Tue Jan 10, 2006 18:45

I predict that Dennis Rodham is going to have sex with all of the foxy women in the house. Even that he-she and the old chick aint bad. Hell he'll probably do Barrymore too.

by observer2 Tue Jan 10, 2006 18:32

http://www.interpal.org/

by Fin Tue Jan 10, 2006 16:33

Why is the Davitt League pettit-bourgeois

by Badman Tue Jan 10, 2006 03:28

When you employ sock puppets, you really shouldn't repeat exactly the same phrases as your other sock puppets - high risk strategy my arse.

And what's blind about it - I'm certain that I am much more familiar with big brother than gorgeous george is.

by Lydonlover Mon Jan 09, 2006 19:32

' blind judgement is a sign of stupid fools who stand in line'

Lydon actually said "Blind acceptance is a sign of stupid fools who stand in line".

by Will Mon Jan 09, 2006 17:24

Channel 4 could bring a surprise guest into the house to stir things up a bit...........Christopher Hitchens

by Richard Crossman - Respec' Mon Jan 09, 2006 17:11

Day 4 and George is restoring the balance with his MAB fanbase. Insisting that all female members of the house must dress head to toe in respectful cloths, and top out with the Hajib, George is opportunistically appeasing the lazy & reactionary nature of the religious for the sake of some short term political gain. Not alone on the left (unfortunately), George hasn’t quite got round to bashing the assorted bisexuals in the house, but doubtless that too can be expected if the Mullahs of Bethnal Green & Bow decide it must be so.

Victory to Al-Sadir, Victory to Galloway in house of impearlist amorality, Death to Sharon.

by SH Mon Jan 09, 2006 13:00

People seem to be forgetting that Channel 4 will edit out a lot of what GG says. It is quite possible that they will edit out anything political that GG will say. This is not a high risk strategy, it is a foolish one. Smoking cigars in your dressing gown on national TV makes him look more eccentric than a serious politician. If it was a labour or tory politician there would be widespread condemnation from the SWP and Respect, a little consistency is needed here.

by not the only one Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:15

millions of people watch big brother, and how often have lefties thought- if only someone could use this airtime for something other than inane bollocks.

A high risk strategy from Galloway, sure, but fucking hell i cant wait until he dishes it out to blair and bush etc. After all, the Senate hearing in Washington was supposed to be the end of his career according to the witch hunters and fake left critics like Hitchens, but look how he turned that around. BB might provide a couple of gems yet.

as to what galloway has been doing in his constituency, he took part inthe blockade of the fire station recently when Labour tried to cutback on the fire service. The platform he's got will let him raise the issues like this along with others like the war and palestine to hundreds of thousands of people who might never have heard a left wing point of view.

Risky strategy, but fucking interesting.

Cardboard labour backbencher non entity he defintely is not. %0 bucks on him going the distance with Barrymore!!!!

by Lefty type Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:19

I wont be watching any of the BB coverage, as I think BB is quite pathetic. Neither do I have time for "celebrities" and celebrity culture. But many people do watch BB and care what all these celebrity idiots do.

So maybe GG might influence some of the viewing public in a positive way. And is that a bad thing?

His credibility as a serious politician may suffer as a result, but at the very least he may get the message out to the lowest common denominator. Heat and Now and other such rags are never gonna give in-depth analysis of the Palestine question, or the illegal occupation of Iraq, but now maybe they'll give it a mention.

Awareness, is after all the first step towards affirmative action

by lynchmob Mon Jan 09, 2006 02:55

This is about the sixth comment this week advising contributors to take 'deep breaths.' does somebody have a lung fetish?

by pettite le pue Mon Jan 09, 2006 02:52

oh come on now sean, lets take a deep breath, count to ten and relax, ok maybe another deep breath.

by Sean Philips Mon Jan 09, 2006 01:15

I was just on the SWP website. I think that their political redundency and hollowness can be seen on the advertisement for the 'conference for a new left' they are holding. The advertised speakers do not mention they are SWP. They mention that they are from various front groups such as the pettit-bourgeois nationalist front 'Davitt League' or the other 'People before profit alliance'. Worryingly for a previously self styled revolutionary party they advertise a number of speakers from universities! They think that a new left will come from university lecturers. SWP should remember that a new left will come from the workers movement and not just the intellegensia. Why don't the SWP mention that these lecturers were involved in particular campaigns. Why mention they are from a university?

by Sean Philips Mon Jan 09, 2006 01:07

The SWP are politically redundant. It is shown in the recent past with glaring clarity. On Irish Ferries they called it a 'draw' when in fact it was a rotten deal. This was because they don't want to scare off Paul Smyth from their latest front. They are now doing their best to defend George Galloway MP when he should be criticised by any serious activist. This is not new. The SWP ditched the demand in Respect for a workers' wage for any MPs for Galloway. Now they are trying to defend Galloway when he should be criticised for this unaccountable absence from political work for up to 3 weeks. Not to mention his absence from parliament over past year when he could have been seriously attacking Blair. The SWP are so desperate to clasp onton anything and anyone they lower their politics.

by Badman Mon Jan 09, 2006 00:41

"well obviously you think that the guy who turned the tables on an american senate committee (read show trial) and overturned a 10000 majority in a labour heartland, has no chance of putting across his anti war and socialist ideas to the millions of people that watch bb. Maybe you're right, but i hope you're wrong"

I know I'm right because I inhabit reality. In this wonderful place which you seem to be a stranger to, political elections and senate hearings are the sorts of events in which people might pay attention to political arguments. Celebrity big brother just isn't. Furthermore, the producers have predictably made it quite clear that they will not allow him a platform to air his political opinions - which is quite understandable from their point of view as it would ruin viewing figures. People watch big brother to be entertained by desperate saddos, not to listen to political theorising. You would need to have a ridiculously condescending view of ordinary people to think that the audience does not realise this and consider it to be anything other than an amusing distraction.

Even the UK SWP CC expressed public dismay at his decision (typically taken without consulting any single member of his party). The point that this decision completely undermines any credibility that he might have built up during the senate hearings was even obvious to them in their trotskyist alternative universe.

"Even if he manages to convince a tiny percentage of the viewers of the anti-war case then it will have paid off."

The majority of the audience of big brother are already convinced by the anti-war case. Anybody who has so far remained unconvinced by the anti-war case, as it has been put by a large number of people in newspapers, current affairs shows, public demonstrations, public meetings, etc, etc, but suddenly has a change of mind due to the inane chats about plastic surgery and self-obsession on celebrity big brother would have to be a moron on a staggering scale. I don't think such people exist. Although if you keep up this ridiculous argument you might just win me over on this one point.

by Sarah Dulles Mon Jan 09, 2006 00:13

Since his election, George has only voted in 16 per cent of the parliamentary votes he was eligible to take part in. This ranks him 634th out of 645 MPs. If his voting record was better, perhaps I wouldn't mind so much, but can someone tell me exactly what he has done to help or represent his constituents since May? It is clear that he stood for election purely to talk about Iraq and increase his personal profile.

He is taking 3 and a half weeks off to do BB, and Parliament sits again from Monday. I think this speaks for itself.

by Professor Yakamoto Mon Jan 09, 2006 00:09

If the SWP in August 2000 were of the opinion that contestants on Big Brother are

"sad, vulnerable people."

Does that mean that the SWP regards George Galloway as a sad vulnerable person, or have they made one of their legendary opportunistic shifts and changed the party's position towards Big Brother?
I thought they had reached the peak of their opportunism in uncritically working with homophobes and anti-abortion nutters while opposing any attempt to move Respect in a more progressive direction on these and other issues, but we see again how we should never discount their ability to surpass themselves in this field.

by d - swp Sun Jan 08, 2006 23:44

well obviously you think that the guy who turned the tables on an american senate committee (read show trial) and overturned a 10000 majority in a labour heartland, has no chance of putting across his anti war and socialist ideas to the millions of people that watch bb. Maybe you're right, but i hope you're wrong.

I'm sure george doesn't care about people laughing at him and nor should any activist. A lot worse can happen us.

As perhaps i should have made clear my opinions on this are personal, and i am witholding judgement on whether galloway's gamble will pay off. I just think there's a chance that it will. Even if he manages to convince a tiny percentage of the viewers of the anti-war case then it will have paid off.

I don't know whether it will though and i don't know what anyone else in the swp or any other group thinks off it. I'm sure there will be a variety of opinions and reactions.

And I respect the integrity of galloway's intentions. I think he is at least as honourable as anonymous trotbashers are.

by Badman Sun Jan 08, 2006 23:27

"good bands have appeared on top of the pops
good journalists write for tabloid newspapers"

These are not remotely analogous at all - both of these things are explicitly vehicles for the content that the people want to get across. In the former: music, in the later: writing.

On the other hand, no good bands have scored a goal in the FA cup final and no good journalists have produced good writing while appearing on top of the pops.

As to the "SWP bashing". It's quite simple. If you want to say ludicrously stupid things - like claiming that Celeb big brother is a vehicle for political ideas, you can expect that people will deride you.

You and me both know that it is highly embarrassing for a socialist outfit to have the single elected politician of their political vehicle (Respect) acting the buffoon on celeb big brother. It makes you look like idiots and puts your political message on a par with Heat magazine.

Pretending that this is anything else simply demands people to laugh at you. You may be able to get your drones to regurgitate this line about it being a 'brave risk' (a line that is copied verbatim from your mothership across the water) but it just makes you look like utter muppets. Why bother?

by d - swp Sun Jan 08, 2006 23:06

Yes Big Brother is cultural trash
but galloway isn't the first person of integrity to stoop down to get the message across
good bands have appeared on top of the pops
good journalists write for tabloid newspapers
and so on

and as i said gg is taking a risk which may or may not pay off in terms of a propaganda effort
I'm sure gg's ego is of the same hew as everybody elses but i would take him at his word that ego is not the main reason for doing big brother
His ego may be deflated or inflated , the propaganda effort may backfire, but as he says whatever happens tens of thousands of pounds will be heading for the needy in palestine. That's something worth supporting surely.

and i don't think its gg on big brother is an excuse for the repetitive swp bashing syndrome exhibited in a particularly virulent form by Mr Badman. As a contestant in another celeb reality once put it ' blind judgement is a sign of stupid fools who stand in line'

Galloway isn't a member of the swp and as he has said made a personal decision to go on the show.
It's his own business.

I think gg on big brother is , at the very least , an interesting cultural experiment.
But I won't be watching it, as, as staying up all night watching people sleep is as boring as bashing the trots.

by joker Sun Jan 08, 2006 22:33

Can someone tell the SWP that it is still a few months until April Fools day.

Seeing Big Brother as a platform for politics is simply madness!

The SWp have seriously gone crazy how can anyone see them seriously. 1st they have all sorts of fronts, claim the revolution would happen if the left were nicer to each other, then they support SIPTU bureaucrats now they see a ego boosting exercise by galloway as the greatest politicla act since Lenin stepped off the train at Finland Station!

by Badman Sun Jan 08, 2006 22:16

"There must be a million abandoned theses with lots of quotes from Gramsci and Walter Benjamin about how radicals could attempt to counter the hegemony of right wing ideas in the mass media. Here's GG attempting it in practice and hats off to him for it."

That is absolutely pathetic. GG is an out of control ego. The potential for getting political ideas across on Big Brother is exactly zero. Nobody watches Big Brother for political ideas - it is a particularly content free form of entertainment. If you think that this is a good way of connecting with the masses, you should go along to karaoke nights in your local boozer and harangue the crowds with speeches from Lenin - it is analogous.

Nobody takes Big Brother to be anything more than a bit of a laugh - at the expense of the desperate losers who crave publicity enough to suffer the humiliation of going on it.

The particularly funny thing is that, as far as I know, the only people who ever took Big Brother seriously as a 'political' space is the SWP (see article above). Now they are claiming that it is a great way of reaching the public. Good Grief - what utter muppetry - their brains really have been replaced by a happy clappy slogan reciting machine. Can they even keep a straight face as they say such rubbish?

If Galloway was trying to launch a music career or a chat-show career, it might make some sense and it might have some success. As it is, all that he is doing is pandering to his ego and placing himself in the same bracket of publicity-desperate Z-list celebs as page 3 girls, baywatch actresses and scandal ridden chat show hosts.

by Philip Dearing Sun Jan 08, 2006 21:10

The folowing extract is from an article that was published in the British Socialist Worker, Issue 1711 on the 26 Aug 2000. The article is named 'Sewer-fire hit' and is very critical of Big Brother. For the original follow the link.

It's always interesting to see the way the SWP sell out and water down their politics and how they refuse to criticise George Galloway even when he does somthing as silly and egotistical as appear on BB.

== Sewer-fire hit ==

"The contestants are sad, vulnerable people. That's why it makes it even more disgusting to see Channel 4 taking advantage of them in order to raise its viewing figures.

Channel 4 is not just exploiting the contestants. It is debasing the viewers as well. By watching Big Brother you too become part of the dehumanising process. One last thing. The man who owns the production company that makes Big Brother is Peter Bazalgette.

The Bazalgette family made their fame and fortune in Victorian England disposing of sewage. So it's nice to see that he is carrying on the family tradition!"

by Philip Dearing Sun Jan 08, 2006 20:58

Do I not remember an article in the Socialist Worker a couple of years ago giving out about Big Brother and how awful it and other similar 'reality' programmes are?

I'm going to try to dig it out now..

by d - swp Sun Jan 08, 2006 19:20

Agree with the original poster that GG is taking a big risk and i was flabbergasted when i first heard it.
But have to say I am impressed once again with his chutzpah. Also if i had a penny for every time I heard a left winger bemoaning the lack of a left wing voice in the mass media I'd have a house in ballsbridge.

There must be a million abandoned theses with lots of quotes from Gramsci and Walter Benjamin about how radicals could attempt to counter the hegemony of right wing ideas in the mass media. Here's GG attempting it in practice and hats off to him for it.

If it works out he'll be using c4 as a soapbox to take on the warmongers and the privatisers. Beats standing outside Tara street dart staion in the freezing cold trying to pass off leaflets.

GG has been harangued in the liberal and right wing press for supposedly abandoning his constituents while on big brother. But Galloway probably has more face to face contact with the citizens he represents than anyone of the New Labour, Tory, or Liberal front benchers. Anyway this is a statement from Georges constituency office issued this morning:

Business as usual
07/01/2006
George Galloway’s office was dealing with constituents’ problems on Friday just as we do every day of the week, including Christmas and New Year. Our office was, to my knowledge, unable to respond to only two calls from people saying they wanted to raise constituency problems - one who did not leave a phone number to return their call on and one where it was not possible, despite repeated attempts, to hear the number left. And this despite the fact that we were bombarded with dozens of fatuous calls from journalists like Vikram Dodd from The Guardian and that BT, unfortunately, failed to install the phones in our new office which was due to open on Friday.

Most MPs did not hold surgeries on Friday because of the parliamentary recess. But we did. A dozen constituents came to the surgery which we hold every Friday from 4pm to 7pm. The issues were predominantly the same as they always are - appalling housing conditions resulting from the year’s of neglect and lack of investment by the New Labour government in Whitehall and the New Labour Council in Tower Hamlets, and immigration and asylum problems arising from this government’s iniquitous, racist immigration and asylum legislation.

It was New Labour’s propaganda before last May’s election that George would not represent his constituency properly and it has remained so ever since. And yet not only has George held surgeries almost every week since his election and taken up and vigorously pursued hundreds of constituents’ problems, he has spoken at more public meetings on campaigning issues around the constituency than his New Labour predecessor did in all the eight anonymous years of her incumbency. He has combined this with taking the Respect message around the country speaking to thousands and playing a very significant role building the international anti-war movement.

* Rob Hoveman, Assistant to George Galloway MP

by george Sun Jan 08, 2006 16:46

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by george Sun Jan 08, 2006 16:44

Galloway gives his reasons for taking on Big Brother
07/01/2006

Sir Humphrey, in Yes Minister, would term it a 'brave' decision. The decision by this politician to enter the Celebrity Big Brother House, bereft of watch, phone, family and all contact with the outside world was, however, an easy one.

Firstly it was for Palestine. Millions of people vote by premium phone and text lines to choose who should face eviction. A percentage of the proceeds goes to the charity of the participants choice. My choice is Interpal, led by my friends Ibrahim Hewitt and Ismael Patel in Leicester, Anas Al-Takriti in Leeds and Dr Azzam Tammimi in London. Like me Interpal have faced the witchhunters in Washington and the Zionist movement in London. But every smear against them has fallen away and the truth about their humanitarian work amongst some of the most oppressed people on the earth has prevailed. They don't get many opportunities to raise really serious amounts of money. My appearance on Big Brother will give them the chance to move up the Premier League.

Secondly, I'm doing it for the audience. The biggest audience I will ever have. Every night on prime-time television millions of viewers will tune in. Almost everyone in the country will see at least a part of at least one episode. In the slow January news month the newspapers will be chock-full of Big Brother.

I have done almost 2000 public meetings since 9/11, traveled tens of thousands of miles and spoken to thousands of people. These face-to-face meetings are invaluable. But often I’m talking to people who already agree with what I say. I want to attempt to connect with the politically untouched, the millions of people – most of them young people – who are completely turned-off by conventional approaches. It’s the Generation X-Factor. One of the crucial elements in the equation, the success of which will be the removal of this corrupt and discredited government and the replacement with a genuinely socially democratic one. We need to use new and innovative methods to put across our arguments. I’m determined that there are no no-go areas for us and I believe Celebrity Big Brother will be hugely successful for our ideals. If I'm wrong at least many will eat in the Gaza Strip because I tried.

I hope, within the difficulties of C4's editing of 24 hours down to one hour per day (though E4 will have wall to wall coverage), to reach this mass, young, overwhelmingly not yet political audience with our simple case. That war without end, war throughout the world is leading us all to disaster. That exploitation, one of the other, is not the only way to run a railroad. That another world is possible and that it's there to be won.

I will talk about racism, bigotry, poverty, the plight of Tower Hamlets, the poorest place in England sandwiched between the twin towers of wealth and privilege in Canary Wharf and the spires of the City. I will talk about war and peace, about Bush and Blair, about the need for a world based on respect. Some of it will get through.

Sure, there may be an indignity to be suffered along the way. But it will be worth it. If I'm voted out early I'll be back on the road again. If I go a long way I'll have reached a lot of people. If I win it will be my greatest election victory since, well, my last one.

George Galloway MP, House of Commons, London