George Galloway faced a month-long ban from the House of Commons last night after a damning report by MPs charged him with bringing the Westminster Parliament into disrepute.

George Galloway faced a month-long ban from the House of Commons last night after a damning report by MPs charged him with bringing the Westminster Parliament into disrepute.

The leader of Respect was found to have hidden the "true source of Iraqi funding" to the Mariam Appeal - a political campaign he set up - being unwilling to co-operate with Sir Philip Mawer, the parliamentary standards commissioner, and calling into question the integrity of the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee, whose critical report, containing the watchdog's findings, was published yesterday.

He was also called on to apologise to MPs for failing to register an interest and "excessive" use of taxpayer-funded facilities for the appeal.

In the committee's view, the former Glasgow MP had "damaged the reputation of the House" by his actions. The ban of 18 sitting days will take place from the new session in October, subject to approval by the Commons.

However, Mr Galloway scorned the findings, saying they had been made by a "jury of my political enemies ... on circumstantial evidence".

Surrounded by TV cameras, he said: "I am not a punchbag. If you aim low blows at me I will fight back. That's what I've done and that's what I've been suspended for."

The main conclusion of what turned out to be the longest and most complex of Sir Philip's inquiries centred on the Mariam Appeal, the political campaign founded by Mr Galloway, which initially helped sick Iraqi children receive medical treatment but went on to battle against UN sanctions on Iraq.

Previous claims made by the UN and US Senate were that large amounts of money were channelled to the appeal from the now discredited UN oil for food programme via Fawaz Zureikat, a Jordanian businessman and friend of the MP.

Only last month, the Charity Commission found the appeal received sizeable funds from "improper transactions" under the oil for food programme - a charge Mr Galloway branded "a complete and utter lie".

However, Sir Philip concluded a substantial part of the appeal's funds did come from Saddam Hussein. "Mr Galloway was not directly and personally in the pay of that regime but his political activities conducted through the Mariam Appeal were, in part, funded by the regime via Mr Zureikat. Mr Galloway at best turned a blind eye. It is likely, however, he was complicit in what was going on."

Mr Galloway's attitude to the inquiry was also criticised by Sir Philip. He said the MP had "consistently failed to live up to the expectation of openness and straightforwardness".

The MP was accused of repeatedly denying facts, attacking witnesses "without justification" and making "wholly incorrect allegations".

Sir Philip also criticised him for arguing securing the end of sanctions on Iraq "justified any and all the means he employed to achieve it".

The committee found Mr Galloway had breached the MP's Code of Conduct by failing to register his interest in the Mariam Appeal, did not declare his interest in it whenever he should have and used his parliamentary office and staff to support the appeal "to an excessive extent".

Last night, Mr Galloway, 52, said what had really upset the committee was that he had robustly defended himself.

"I challenged everything Sir Humphrey and Sir Bufton and Sir Tufton put to me because the points they were putting to me were false."

The MP for Bethnal Green and Bow said the committee seemed oblivious to the "grotesque irony of an overwhelmingly pro-war parliament censuring one of the leaders of the anti-war movement for the way that they conducted the anti-sanctions, anti-war campaign".

He stressed Sir Philip had found that he had not benefited "by a single penny" from the oil for food programme.

On where the appeal's money came from, Mr Galloway said: "I never covered up where the money came from, I never asked where the money came from...I was merely glad that they gave it."

He said if MPs had listened to him hundreds of thousands of people would still be alive and Britain would not be in peril, adding: "They should be striking a medal for me for my work on Iraq, not suspending me."