[Red Moon]

'Puss' Galloway escapes the boot
FERGUS SHEPPARD

14 January 2006

THE credibility of George Galloway was looking increasingly strained yesterday after the controversial MP, a contestant in the cult reality show Celebrity Big Brother, was seen by millions of TV viewers pretending to be a cat.

And accusations that Mr Galloway has abandoned his constituents to appear on national television looked set to continue last night after he avoided immediate eviction from the programme's set following the first of the show's votes to see which contestants remain.


The glamour model Jodie Marsh, who has complained of being bullied by her fellow housemates during her time on the show, was the first to be voted out of the house. She had been up against Mr Galloway and the cross-dressing singer Pete Burns in the public vote.

As house contestants bedded down to another night inside the "house", speculation over Mr Galloway's political future was intensifying after a bizarre episode in which the arch critic of the Iraq war crouched on all fours and pretended to be a cat at the feet of actress Rula Lenska.

The Dundee-born Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow pretended to drink from Lenska's cupped hands and was stroked behind the ears by the actress.

Mr Galloway's animal impression came after 57-year-old Lenska was asked by the unseen voice of Big Brother to test whether humans could communicate with animals. In another task set by producers, he helped Lenska try to read the mind of a goldfish.

The Labour Party yesterday used the MP's presence on the TV show to stoke up dissent in his constituency. Labour chief whip Hilary Armstrong visited Bethnal Green and Bow to launch a petition calling for Mr Galloway to return to work and "respect his constituents, not his ego".

Ms Armstrong said the cat episode had made her "cringe", adding: "I'm absolutely bemused that he decided to do something where he is not contactable by the people he represents or works for."

Mr Galloway has proved a constant irritant to Labour, which expelled him in October 2003 for his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq. However, he returned to parliament last year on an anti-war ticket in the east London seat, after overturning a 10,000 Labour majority.

Mr Galloway's spokesman has insisted the constituency office is open as normal while the MP is on the show. Mr Galloway, meanwhile, has argued that Celebrity Big Brother was a way to reach "the biggest audience I will ever have".

In a statement on his website, the MP said: "I will talk about war and peace, about Bush and Blair, about the need for a world based on respect."

In reality, his views on the Iraq war have so far not made the air, prompting the MP's spokesman, Ron McKay, to accuse Channel Four of censorship.

The channel said it was bound by broadcasting rules governing political content in shows. A spokeswoman said the MP had occasionally raised Iraq but, by his own admission, it was of "limited interest to the other housemates".

Source: The Scotsman