Galloway denies oil for food allegations

Hardly news, I'd agree. I'll reserve judgment on the matter for now except for a couple of points. The first is, one is inclined to agree with Nick Cohen who asks the question: is it really less embarrassing for him if he is exonerated, given that this means he fawned over Saddam Hussein as a matter of principle? The other was the remarks he made regarding the evidence given to the Americans by Tariq Aziz:

"Mr. Galloway said: 'They have introduced another man of the former Iraqi regime who the US has told us for years was made up of genocidal killers. Tariq Aziz now agrees with the US. He is a genocidal murderer one day then a reputable witness the next.'"

Is he saying, in effect, that you can't take the word of such a person? This in and of itself is surely correct? And we should say that it shouldn't be - and one trusts it won't be - taken at face value without documentary evidence. But there's already a problem with Galloway's argument because he himself did not, and does not, share this assessment of Tariq Aziz: he has never described him in such terms; he met cordially with him on a number of occasions, including during a Christmas dinner together; and he is on record as describing him as an 'intellectual'. So Mr. Galloway has given us no reason of his own as to why we should disregard Aziz's testimony - unless he too is shifting position and is now saying we should share the American view of the Ba'ath regime's members.

Hmmm, bit confused now but I trust Mr. Galloway will soon clarify the matter in his next rhetorical performance* - coming to a theatre near you. Until such times as he is vindicated of all allegations, I'll stick with the judgment I made about him about a decade before anyone outside Scotland had ever heard of him: don't buy a used car from this man - not even if he gives you a receipt.

*In the unlikely event anyone reading this hasn't seen the show, it's lacking subtlety, historical veracity, and has lots of hammy Biblical-style lines but is quite entertaining nevertheless.

Update - There's more from the Scotsman:

'Despite Mr Galloway's suggestions that the Senate investigators had not contacted him about the new allegations, Mr MacKay confirmed that Mr Coleman had offered to send staff to London to interview the MP.

Mr Galloway rejected that offer, demanding to "talk to the organ-grinder, not monkeys".'

For the amusing story of what happened to Mr. McKay's ATV project, the outfit that brought you Tony Benn's interview with Saddam Hussein, read down to the bottom of the article.

Also, according to the Herald, the Charity Commission is considering re-opening the investigation into the Miriam Appeal.