Since Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, the party has been dogged by rumours that George Galloway could rejoin the party. The Respect party leader — who was expelled in 2003 following his outspoken comments on the Iraq war — has called for his expulsion to be rescinded. Corbyn has refused to rule out such a move, while Galloway claims that he speaks to Corbyn’s director of comms Seumas Milne — who he describes as his ‘best friend’ — on a regular basis.
However, in a sign that not everyone may be so on board with such a move, Corbyn’s close comrade John McDonnell has made a hire that is unlikely to sit well with Galloway. The shadow chancellor has appointed Naz Shah as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.
Privileged to have been appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Chancellor @johnmcdonnellMP https://t.co/Hi8ixt7JWO
— Naz Shah MP 💙 (@NazShahBfd) February 9, 2016
Shah has history with Galloway. In the general election, the Labour MP fought against Galloway for the Bradford West seat she now holds. During the campaign, Galloway was accused of using dirty tactics after he claimed that Shah lied about being forced into marriage at the age of 15 — then using this to cast doubt on her back story. When Shah won the seat, Galloway said he would take legal action to overturn the result — claiming there had been malpractice in postal voting.
Since then, Shah has made no secret of her issues with Galloway, using her maiden speech to take aim at the former MP for his ‘misogynistic, vitriolic’ manner towards her:
‘I have many words, but sadly only a few pleasant ones. My predecessor was, I am told, a great orator. The sad truth is that the only words he ever directed towards me were misogynistic, vitriolic, very dangerous and, to quote him, “only ever had a fleeting relationship with the truth”.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his actions, which united the people of Bradford West. Their patience – and, indeed, mine –certainly paid off when we handed him his P45 on 8 May. The spandex cat has truly left the building.’
With Shah now moving closer into McDonnell’s inner circle, the ‘spandex cat’ is unlikely to be pleased by the appointment.
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