George Galloway and Respect statement on the anti-terror bill

Respect statement

In response to comments in the press about last week's vote on New Labour's anti-terror legislation George Galloway and Respect have issued the following statement.

Respect remains wholly opposed to the government's legislation and while we regret missing the vote last week George Galloway will vote on subsequent important amendments to the bill and will oppose the bill on its final reading. He has cleared his diary commitments to ensure that he is available
to vote against the bill at its final reading.

We would also like to make clear the difficulty facing a single MP on votes of this kind. The amendment, which would have taken an additional two votes to pass and so would have fallen whether or not George Galloway had voted for it, was only a marginal improvement on the clause in New Labour's bill.
It would still have endangered the freedom of speech of any person who spoke up for people the government defines as 'terrorists'.

A similar problem arises with the so-called Winnick amendment that is due before the House this week. It proposes a doubling of the time suspects can be held without charge to 28 days. George Galloway intends to vote for this amendment not because we agree with it but simply because it gives the police fewer powers than the government proposal of 90 day detention without charge.

For the same reason Respect's policy is to oppose the final bill even if these amendments are passed.

Finally, Respect would like to underline its commitment to the extra-Parliamentary opposition to the anti-terror legislation which is of far greater importance than anything that is being done in the House of
Commons. In this crucial arena George Galloway's activities in opposition to the anti-terror legislation remain second to none.