The former MP and reality TV star poured scorn on Holyrood’s politicians and party leaders by branding MSPs ‘stumblebums who would think being called a nonentity was a compliment’ and said watching Alex Salmond and Labour leader Iain Gray together was the political equivalent of The Krankies.
Mr Galloway was speaking yesterday as he confirmed he would be standing on the Glasgow regional list for the Scottish Parliament in May’s elections.
Mr Galloway, a Labour MP in the city for 18 years, said Holyrood lacked “heavyweight” politicians and pledged to put his “heart and soul” into representing Glasgow if elected.
Although his manifesto has yet to be published, he said he would argue for more powers for Holyrood, fight Westminster cuts with his “bare teeth”, support a referendum on independence and bring real Labour values to Scotland.
The former Labour and Respect Party MP said he had no hard feelings about the decision by Tommy Sheridan’s wife, Gail, to stand as a Solidarity candidate in Glasgow and did not believe they were “necessarily competing for the same votes”.
Speaking at a press conference in the city, he said that if Mrs Sheridan had stood, as had been discussed, as his number two on a party list, his campaign would have become a referendum on her husband.
He added: “Much as I love Tommy and feel sorry for what has happened to him, I really think that would be a bad idea.”
Mr Sheridan, who is awaiting sentence for perjury, said his party may still fight alongside Mr Galloway during the election campaign. He said: “Should a link up with George and Respect not prove possible, we would obviously urge Glasgow citizens to back the Solidarity list with their second vote. But, should they not be convinced to do so, would also welcome the election of George to represent Glasgow.”
Mr Galloway, who earned a degree of notoriety when he dressed as a cat on the Big Brother television show, said he was not seeking to become an MSP because he needed the wages but because he had “something to offer politically to Glasgow and the Parliament”.
He said: “I strongly believe in home rule. I believe in a strong Scottish Parliament and I believe in a strong Scottish Parliament with heavyweight parliamentarians in it.
“It’s my contention -- you make think it rude, but I think it’s accurate -- that today’s Scottish Parliament has too few real parliamentarians in it, heavyweight parliamentarians who would be recognised outside their own street, whose voice would be recognised.
”It’s my view that too many in Holyrood would regard the term nonentity as an accolade and I think that’s bad for the Scottish parliament, it’s bad for politics in Scotland.
“When I watch Alex Salmond and Iain Gray together it’s the political equivalent of the Krankies, the big guy patronising the half-pint who thinks that Clause 4 is the latest follow-up Christmas movie.”
Mr Galloway said Mr Salmond was head and shoulders above the rest of the Parliament and that was part of the problem because he was not subjected to “the real scrutiny in debate that he would be if the Parliament was of a greater calibre”.
Asked how he would adapt to a Parliament he has described as a town council, Mr Galloway said: “It would be a good thing if someone with some kind of profile in the world is in the Scottish Parliament.
“I don’t want to sound conceited about it but I think I will bring a touch of class to the Scottish Parliament in the sense of a wider perspective, a wider experience and an ability to argue and paint a picture of what could be, which most people in the Scottish Parliament cannot.”
Mr Galloway, 56, said he would probably end his political careeer at Holyrood if elected. He is currently campaigning under “galloway4glasgow” but that could change to Scottish Respect (George Galloway).
