BRITAIN: The left-wing British Labour MP, Mr George Galloway, was expelled from the party yesterday. Known for his strong and stridently-expressed views against the war in Iraq, the Labour leadership said he was bringing the party into disrepute.
Mr Galloway, who was suspended in May after 36 years membership following an interview on Abu Dhabi TV in which he accused Mr Tony Blair and President George Bush of invading Iraq "like wolves", vowed to stand again in his Glasgow constituency but as an independent candidate.
He was found guilty by Labour's National Constitutional Committee on four out of five charges brought against him by the party leadership. He denounced the two-day hearing as a "political show trial" which had been rigged in advance by the Prime Minister.
Labour's ruling National Executive Committee insisted he was being called to account, not for his anti-war views, but for conduct likely to bring the party into disrepute.
He was charged with urging British troops to defy orders, calling on Arabs to attack British troops, telling voters in Plymouth not to support Labour candidates who supported the war, congratulating an anti-war candidate who defeated Labour in Preston and threatening to stand against Labour himself.
Mr Galloway has also been accused, by the Daily Telegraph, of accepting money from the Saddam Hussein regime, a charge he strongly denies. Mr Galloway insisted he had been singled out for expressing opinions shared by millions of Labour voters and many of the party's MPs.
Outside the tribunal venue in central London he said: "The Labour Party will rue the day they took this step. Mr Blair's response to the mistake of the war is to attack those who stood against the war and root them out of British politics."