By DAISY SAMPSON daisy.sampson@theresidentgroup.com
George Galloway is a British politician, author and broadcaster.
As an MP, he first represented the Labour party before his expulsion from the party in 2003 when he then set up the Respect Party and represented Bethnal Green and Bow in the 2005 parliament.
Since unsuccessfully contesting the parliamentary seat in the 2010 General Election, he has been working on several projects, including a screenplay, a novel and a musical.
George Galloway has been at the centre of controversy in the past specifically regarding a speech made to Saddam Hussein, while his part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 saw him dancing in a leotard and imitating a cat drinking milk.
For George Galloway, the Algarve has long been a place of retreat, to relax with his family and to escape the busy world of politics.
However, there is never time to down tools completely and although he is not currently an acting MP, George is still busy with many projects, including his latest book, 10 Years that Shook the World.
George Galloway told the Algarve Resident this week: “I actually have my computer on now, ready to write some more of my new book, which is about the last decade of political events. The Algarve is a delightful place that I have been visiting since 1987 and it is perfect to write.”
George Galloway first visited Portugal in 1974 and bought his property near Burgau in 1997.
“I have seen the Algarve develop fantastically since first coming here. I remember when Portimão was the size of Lagos, Lagos was the size of Luz and Luz was the size of Burgau!
“I come here all the time, either on my own or with my family. When we are here, we spend time around the property and by the pool but we also enjoy a good walk or will pile into a suitably large vehicle and go to the beach.”
He added: “The Algarve has some lovely restaurants and cafés and as a family we love to go to Lagos, which has always been a great place to visit.”
Viva palestina
Although famous for his outspoken views as a politician, since losing his parliamentary seat in the 2010 General Election, George has had more time to concentrate on other projects close to his heart, in particular the Viva Palestina campaign.
“I set up Viva Palestina on January 10 last year and already the campaign has spread worldwide with campaigns taking place in America, Britain, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland and many more countries.
“At the summer university in Lebanon, there were people from Lisbon so we hope that there will also be a Portugal-based campaign very soon,” said George Galloway.
The momentum of the campaign has been impressive and already there have been four convoys of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.
The reason behind the public support for the campaigns started after attacks on Gaza over Christmas and New Year 2008/2009.
“I think when people saw the images of the attacks in the media it was the last straw for many. People could see the injustice of it all and how this situation was fuelling a horrible global injustice in the wider world,” said George Galloway.
“The beauty of Viva Palestina is that it is a charity that doesn’t just ‘say’; it ‘does’ and people who want to support this campaign can actually physically do something. You don’t have to go on the convoy yourself but if you bake some cakes and sell them off in a raffle, you could raise 40 Pounds and that is enough to buy eight bags of cement, while 10,000 Pounds will buy an ambulance.”
The fifth convoy to Gaza, led by George Galloway, is set to leave from London, Qatar and Casablanca on September 18 and despite being a charitable initiative to take humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip, it still poses dangers to those who take part.
“In the last flotilla, we were attacked and nine people were killed while a further person has been left brain dead from their injuries. These were unarmed civilians and it created a huge worldwide reaction to the reality surrounding the Gaza strip,” said George Galloway, who hopes that he will be able to transport 10 million US Dollars worth of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip in the latest convoy.
Dusty Springfield
While still heavily involved in issues of global concern, he has managed to find time to not only write his latest book but also a musical about Dusty Springfield to be performed at the Edinburgh Festival next August.
“The musical will be simply called Dusty. I have been listening to her music since I was a child and she is one of the most underrated British musical stars.
“She was also quite a political woman and was flown out of South Africa after refusing to play to a segregated crowd, while her lesbianism was something that people didn’t even believe existed at the time.”
Meanwhile, the ever busy George is also working on a film project in Hollywood called Occupation of the Sun about the Gaza Strip.
“I am very friendly with Sean Penn and Warren Beatty and the film will be about the blockade of solar panels to the Gaza Strip. This is one of the sunniest places on the planet and desperately short of fuel yet solar panels have been prevented from passing through the blockade.
I suppose they must be very dangerous…”
With so many projects on the go and a busy family life, you would assume that a return to politics would be out of the question.
However, politics is still a passionate subject.
“I believe that the current coalition government will be a disaster and the longer it continues the more damage will be done. We need another election soon to prevent further slashing and burning by the government as we head in for a double dip recession.”
He added: “I hope to be able to stand again as an MP as I still have plenty more lead in my pencil!”
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