The Respect party

George Galloway? Apparently, he's the man who's spent the last 5 years "fixing" Tower Hamlets and if voted for again, he will continue to do the best for the borough.

Below are a few of his ideas:

It's been reported that he's bringing in a new brand of cola where the profits will go to Palestine. Keeping the streets clean, maintaining the schools, building houses, costs money. If these profits are sent to Palestine, where will he find the money to help the residents of Tower Hamlets? At the end of the day, people will ALWAYS give to a good cause, and I'm not aware of many institutions who don't believe the plight of the Palestinians is a worth cause. At the end of the day, liberal papers like the Independent and the Guardian will always support the Palestinian cause. The journalist Robert Fisk - has lived in the Middle East for over 10 years and has always condoned the behaviour of the Israelis. Just because Galloway’s screaming louder than everyone else it doesn't mean its going to make a difference.

Second point - he wishes to "empower local Muslims". It seems people have forgotten about the number of schemes that are in place which helps Muslims from all corners of society in order to reach their potential. This hasn't happened because of Galloway atop his red bus, but thanks to the Labour party. Although I don't agree with positive discrimination, there are initiatives which help those from underprivileged backgrounds to get into Oxford and Cambridge. In industries where there are a limited number of people from ethnic backgrounds, for example, media: there are various grants to help fund the courses - the average journalism course costs around £3000. As long as these people can prove that they have the determination to succeed in their chosen industry, they have a shot at getting a place. Galloway didn't do this - Labour did.

In terms of Galloway's character, compared to most other MPs, he has made the least amount of appearances in Parliament compared to any other MP - what on earth is he going to do for Tower Hamlets if he's never in Parliament??

According to a story by Simon Carr of the Independent, if Galloway were to become Prime Minister, his main priority would getting the army out of Ireland - what on earth's that got to do with helping the people of Tower Hamlets.

On the contrary, this is what the Liberal Democrate candidate's offering:

They're going to make sure that money goes into funding the Idea Store isn't cut - this'll ensure that future generations can actually read and don't turn into gangsters - that these kids will take advantage of the scholarships and grants being offered to people from unprivileged backgrounds.

Galloway says there are over 25,000 people in the East End who are in need of housing - the problem is that he doesn't know how he’ll fix this - on the other hand, the Liberal Democrats are campaigning to make habitable the 2,692 empty houses in Tower Hamlets that are being wasted and could go to those that need help.

They plan on building more sports facilities in Mile End. Not only will this keep kids safe this will also aid the problem of rising obesity (this is more so an issue within Bengali communities rather than other communities).

Most people may feel indifferent to these issues. They believe them to be too small in the grand scheme of things. But it is these are issues that affect us - Galloway’s policies are based on helping Muslims abroad – which is all well and good, but at least the Liberal Democrats appear to want to put our own houses in order before branching out into the world.

The Telegraph reported that when he turned up yesterday in order to get on his open top red bus, he was sat in his car smoking a £400 cigar - if he has that sort of money to waste on something without any sense of permanence, why doesn’t he pump more cash into his campaign?

Galloway is a one trick pony. Yes, he stood up against the war in Iraq. Yes, he wants to help the Palestinian cause. Yes, his heart is probably in the right place, but you know what? I would rather vote for a party that will help ME to achieve my potential than worry about issues better left to institutions created to resolve foreign conflicts.

At the end of the day, I believe that although Respect has some good ideas they have no method with which to implement theme. The Liberal Democrats have mostly the same ideas and beliefs (they also didn't agree with the Iraq war and have tried to encourage the government to get involved in the war in Israel) BUT the difference is that the Liberal Democrats have a plan!!