Labour will suffer, vows Galloway

Maverick MP George Galloway will decide by the middle of next week whether or not to call a by-election following his expulsion from the Labour Party.

Mr Galloway spoke out as he made his first appearance in his Glasgow Kelvin constituency since being kicked out by Labour bosses on Thursday.

Labour's National Constitutional Committee found him guilty of bringing the party into disrepute over anti-war comments in which he accused Prime Minister Tony Blair and American president George W Bush of invading Iraq "like wolves".

Mr Galloway touched down at Glasgow Airport and headed straight for his constituency HQ to hold a surgery.

Speaking outside the office in the west end of Glasgow, he said he had yet to make up his mind whether to call a by-election or remain as an independent MP until the next General Election.

But he vowed that the Labour Party would suffer at the ballot box for its decision to expel him.

He said: "I won't be making any definitive announcement until the middle of the week.

"If I were to resign this constituency and there was a by-election I can't guarantee I would win, but I would guarantee Tony Blair's candidate would surely lose.

"That is why New Labour is not calling for a by-election."

Mr Galloway said he planned to speak with constituency party officials as well as local voters before making his mind up. But he said he had been encouraged by the levels of support he had received from around the country, including at an anti-war meeting in Bury, Lancashire.

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