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spe mp uh George Galloway um you were

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expelled from the labor party he of

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course never was some said that he made

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the party unelectable in the 70s and'

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80s but how inspirational a figure was

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he for you in fact he was my character

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witness at my expulsion uh Kangaroo

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Court uh along with Michael foot and the

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leader of the biggest Union Affiliated

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to the labor party but it didn't take

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them long to disregard these star

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Witnesses and the threw me out uh he was

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as you've just I think in a wonderful uh

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package there showed uh a really quite

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Majestic uh Figure Head and Shoulders

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above uh so many of those uh who bit at

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his heels at the time he was absolutely

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inspirational to millions of people but

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there's one thing I think you've got

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wrong and the media commentary has got

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wrong today the point that's being made

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over and over again is that most people

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disagreed with Mr Ben but they admired

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him and so on but actually on the issues

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that he stood for most people agreed

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with him then and now from his attempts

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to bring oil into public ownership in

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1974 as the Energy Secretary right

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through to the war on Iraq and attitudes

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to nuclear weapons in the European Union

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and so on the majority of British people

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supported Mr Ben's view uh on these

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things and I think that that's important

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because we mustn't allow uh if you'll

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forgive me saying so uh Mr Ben to be put

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in a museum now in a in a glass case so

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that we can look upon him and wonder at

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what used to be in fact his point of

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view is still alive and kicking and uh

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he wasn't the last of the mikans there's

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plenty of mikans left uh well and

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presumably you'd like to count yourself

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as one of those but when you say that

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most when most people agreed with him I

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mean how can that be the case I mean

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this was the man who led to the

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formation of the sdp this was a man

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whose political views uh not only

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divided his party but never attracted

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the sort of support that would have ever

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elected him to power well I I'd like you

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to tell me a single one of his uh

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trademark uh policies that is not

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supported by the majority of British

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people he supported the public ownership

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of gas and electricity and Railways he

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opposed a new generation of nuclear

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weapons he opposed the war in Iraq and

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so on and on all of these things he was

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right he opposed the undemocratic

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character of the European Union uh on

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that he has overwhelming uh support in

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Britain it's the people making these

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points which are entirely Wrong by the

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way and I was there it was I mean you

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said that he split the Party by standing

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against Dennis Healey we could just as

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equally reverse that and say Dennis

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Healey split the Party by standing

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against Tony Ben there was a vacancy

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there was an election two men stood for

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it one didn't split the Party by

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standing the other one didn't not split

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hairs over his over the the party and

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the labor party but what about him as a

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man so Ian so he stood for you as a as a

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character reference what was it about

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him as a as an individual as a character

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a man who obviously had I huge

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conviction even if you didn't agree with

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his political views he was a prince uh

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amongst men he wasn't actually an

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aristocrat his father's VI County was

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given to him uh as a purage by the

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Liberal Party who he had served so he

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doesn't he he didn't have blue blood Mr

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uh Ben but he did of course come from a

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wealthy background and a very

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distinguished one uh but he was a prince

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amongst men he was the gentlest most

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honorable most filled with Integrity of

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any of the political figures of this age

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I mean he put up with all of this

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backbiting and media demonization which

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you'd have to have been there at the

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time think Scargill Crow uh uh

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Livingston wrapped together double Tre

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and that's how bad it was but he he

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endured it all uh with a smile without a

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bad word uh he was a far more sanguin

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about it than I would or could have been

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he was a gentleman through all of that

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and in the swilling moras uh that

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British politics has uh become he really

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stood Head and Shoulders out and above

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it all yeah I'm that's going to ask you

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about you know your own sort of career

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compared to his because I mean he never

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resorted didy to any sort of gimmickry

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or or you know sort of self- publicity

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uh which perhaps much well I mean in

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terms of you know Big Brother

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appearances and things like that because

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he didn't need to did he he was very

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Innovative you see this is a point uh he

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he didn't you're right uh do that but I

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don't think he would have ruled it out

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he was the man who pioneered so many

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things in the 1960s post codes posted

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stamps that didn't just have the Queen's

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head on them tsr2 Concord nuclear power

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he he recorded his own interviews with

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the BBC and others in the 1960s because

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he didn't trust you to Faithfully report

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what he said no one had ever done any of

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these things before he was a really

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Progressive Innovative man he summed up

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Mr Wilson's promise of this white hot

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heat of the technological Revolution

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that labor tried to bring about in the

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in the 1960s so I I don't think that you

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should rule out that Mr Ben wouldn't

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have tried a trick or two

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to get a wider message uh across uh but

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he was uh I think this is common

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currency he never had a bad word to say

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personally about anyone uh even uh Tony

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Blair uh when I asked him if he'd appear

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in my forthcoming documentary the

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killings of Tony Blair he declined on

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the basis that it all sounded rather too

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personal uh so that's the kind of man he

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was uh but his principal was iron CL bad

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no one would ever be able to accuse him

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a man who grew more leftwing as he Grew

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Older which is the opposite of course of

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most labor politicians uh he never

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compromised on principle he was Ironclad

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on that to the end yeah and Harold

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Wilson uh as we heard in that report by

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Ben Wright describing him as a man who

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immatured with age uh in ter in terms of

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his in terms of his radicalism is that

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what he was getting at do you think well

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uh uh Mr Wilson started out a very great

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hope uh for labor people uh but he gave

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up prematurely having himself rather

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over matured with age so I think uh we'd

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put that rather nasty comment by Mr

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Wilson down to his premature maturity

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George Gallow thanks very much indeed

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for thank you