Rochdale’s newly elected MP George Galloway had a heated exchange with Sky’s political editor after the Prime Minister’s speech today (1 March).
Speaking today, Rishi Sunak said the result of the Rochdale by-election was “beyond surprising”. He said Galloway dismissed the “horror of what happened on October 7th”, “praises Hezbollah and has the backing of racist former BNP leader Nick Griffin”. ‘ he claimed.
Sky News interviewed Mr Galloway after his speech. Speaking to correspondent Sam Coates, Mr Galloway said he had not seen Mr Sunak’s speech but could understand “how disappointed” the Prime Minister was with the Rochdale election.
read more: ‘I bet he couldn’t name four streets in Rochdale’: skepticism in the town where George Galloway is now an MP
He added that the Conservative Party had been “smashed” by himself and independent candidates in the by-election. During his exchange, Mr Galloway was asked about claims of “supporting” Hezbollah, which he said he did not understand and said it was none of Mr Sunak’s “business”.
When told that Hezbollah was classified as a terrorist organization, Mr Galloway replied that the UK had “sovereign diplomatic relations” with the “Lebanese government”. As the interview continued, Rochdale’s Galloway supporters began to flock behind him.
When Coates raised the issue of insecurity among some people in Rochdale, Galloway insisted that he had been democratically voted in by the people of the town. When the prime minister’s speech came up again, Mr Galloway said: “Stop bringing him up like he’s Moses,” as his supporters could be heard laughing in the background. Mr Galloway added that he had “disdain” for the Prime Minister.
As Mr Galloway left the interview, supporters were seen waving in Mr Coates’ face and shouting political comments. His supporters can be heard shouting “Free Palestine” before the camera cuts.