…But Not Galloway’s
Jeremy Corbyn has launched a new political party—and predictably, the knives are already out. Some are cheering. Some are groaning. And a lot of people on the left are asking: is this really going to change anything?
I’ve criticised Corbyn in the past. I was furious when he refused to stand up to the antisemitism smear campaign that gutted the Labour left from the inside out. I was even angrier when he left people like Chris Williamson to be publicly crucified by the press. Chris is my mate. He spoke the truth—that Labour had been too apologetic in the face of what were clearly weaponised allegations—and for that, he was hung out to dry. Corbyn didn’t defend him. He didn’t fight. He didn’t even speak up.
And when Julian Assange was rotting in Belmarsh, Corbyn stayed silent far too long. The leader of the Opposition should have been on the steps of that prison demanding his release.
So yes, I have my criticisms. Real ones. Deserved ones. But here’s why I’m still willing to support Corbyn’s new party: because he listens.
A Pacifist in a Knife Fight
Corbyn’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: he’s a pacifist. The man is incapable of throwing a punch—even when he’s being bludgeoned. And when the antisemitism smears were flying, what was needed wasn’t diplomacy—it was defiance. It needed someone who would punch back. It needed, frankly, someone like George Galloway.
Here’s a video of me from five or six years ago, screaming at Corbyn to stand up.
I meant every word then—and it still applies today.
It’s also true that Corbyn stayed far too quiet on Julian Assange—while he had power. That silence was unforgivable at the time. But credit where it’s due: once he was ousted as Labour leader, he did finally start to speak up. He marched, he signed letters, he showed up. He did the right thing—just too late. The position he was in—the voice he had—was gone. And that, again, comes back to the same flaw: his refusal to fight when it mattered most.
I’ll still support Corbyn’s new party, especially if they stand a candidate in my area. I’d even canvass for them. Hell, I might even stand for an election myself if asked. Because at the very least, Corbyn doesn’t treat his allies like enemies.
Galloway Can Throw a Punch—But He Aims It at the Left
The Workers Party platform is solid. On NATO, on foreign policy, on class politics—I back almost every word. I’ve filmed their events. I’ve supported their candidates. I voted Workers Party at the last election. I’ve even been approached about joining. But I’ve refused. And the reason is simple:
George Galloway blocks anyone on the left who disagrees with him.
Not the Blairites. Not Farage. Not Reform. He blocks people like me—Assange supporters, anti-imperialists, socialists—his own base if they dare disagree with him, even slightly.
I know at least ten people personally who’ve been blocked by Galloway on social media. Every one of them is a long-standing Assange supporter. Every one of them was blocked after disagreeing with him—once. Politely. From a left standpoint.
I know one “leftist” he blocked after a disagreement which he apologised to and unblocked when they confronted him about it, only to block them again days later as soon as they disagreed.
Meanwhile, Galloway proudly says he’ll “reach out” to Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
So let’s be blunt:
He blocks Assange activists for disagreeing with him from the left, and extends an olive branch to Farage.
That is not movement-building. That is ego management dressed up as strategy.
It’s the same triangulating logic that killed the Democratic Party in the U.S.:
“For every blue-collar Democrat we lose…we will pick up two moderate Republicans”
I can only presume Mr Galloway thinks he will pick up those votes in Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.
You cannot build a movement for justice while silencing the very people who’ve fought for it when it wasn’t fashionable. You can’t block allies while courting opportunists. That’s not unity. That’s betrayal.
So Here’s Where I Stand
I’ll support Corbyn’s new party—warts and all—because he listens, even when it costs him. I won’t support Galloway’s party, even though I agree with the policies, because he silences the people who built the movement he now claims to lead.
And I’ll never canvass for a man who blocks Julian Assange supporters from the left, while trying to win over Nigel Farage supporters on the right.
Corbyn, for all his failings, remains human. He learns. He listens.
Galloway, for all his strengths, punishes disagreement. And that’s fatal.