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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Galloway suspended from Commons | Galloway suspended from Commons |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Respect MP George Galloway has been suspended from the House of Commons for 18 days. | Respect MP George Galloway has been suspended from the House of Commons for 18 days. |
| Before the vote on his suspension, Mr Galloway was ordered out of the chamber after repeatedly clashing with Speaker Michael Martin during a debate. | Before the vote on his suspension, Mr Galloway was ordered out of the chamber after repeatedly clashing with Speaker Michael Martin during a debate. |
| Mr Galloway defended himself, and commented on members of the watchdog committee, for more than an hour. | Mr Galloway defended himself, and commented on members of the watchdog committee, for more than an hour. |
| But Mr Martin ordered him out after he continued to criticise the integrity of some other MPs. | |
| The Standards and Privileges Committee had examined Mr Galloway's work on the Mariam Appeal charity in Iraq. | |
| 'Hypocrisy' | |
| The suspension was the result of him "concealing the true source of Iraqi funding" and "calling into question" the integrity of standards watchdogs | |
| The ban on the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow stting in the Commons will begin on October 8 once Parliament returns from summer recess. His salary will also be suspended. | |
| During Monday's debate, Mr Galloway accused the Standards and Privileges Committee of hypocrisy and of acting "unjustly", but Mr Martin repeatedly warned him not to continue with personal attacks, saying "you are going too far". | |
| Mr Galloway said the idea that Labour members of the committee could be "unbiased" about him was "ridiculous". | |
| 'Offensive attack' | |
| When he was eventually ordered from the chamber, Mr Galloway shouted that he would continue his speech outside for anyone who wanted to hear it. | |
| Mr Galloway has always denied receiving money from Saddam Hussein's regime. | |
| Following his exit, Sir George Young, chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee, said Mr Galloway had made a "gratuitous and offensive attack" on Sir Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. | |
| He told MPs: "This is not a debate about party political funding as the honourable member (Mr Galloway) maintained, it is about openness, it is about accountability, it is about integrity and also it is about our rules on advocacy." | |
| The inquiry was the "longest running and probably one of the most complex" ever undertaken by a commissioner. | |
| The inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards began in 2003. | |
| Libel action | |
| But it was suspended during Mr Galloway's successful libel action against the Daily Telegraph, which had suggested he had received money from Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. | |
| The Mariam Appeal was set up by Mr Galloway in 1998 to provide medicine and medical help to Iraqis during the last years of Saddam Hussein's rule and under international sanctions. | |
| He and other trustees were criticised by the Charity Commission last month, for failing to make sufficient inquiries into the sources of donations. | |
| It found the appeal had received significant donations connected with improper transactions made under the Iraqi oil-for-food programme - but said the money had been spent on humanitarian aid. | |
| Mr Galloway and the other trustees have denied any wrongdoing and he said the report was "sloppy, misleading and partial". |