The plight of the Palestinians has made its way to the Pennines. On a blustery day in the Lancashire mill town of Rochdale, George Galloway rose to speak at a weekly lunch club of local women at Castlemere Community Centre, a handsome redbrick former Victorian school. He condemned the “carnage in Gaza”, mainstream politicians who were “ignoring” his audience and – with the same thundering intensity – the “state of the Exchange shopping centre”. The 70 or so women, mainly older British Muslims of Pakistani heritage, applauded from cabaret-style round tables bedecked in white tablecloths, as Galloway – who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 for his vocal opposition to the Iraq invasion – promised to bring a Primark to Rochdale. “Primark will be my lasting legacy!”
“I think he’s fantastic, and it’s good to hear someone speaking the truth,” said Ayisha, a 40-year-old carer. “I’ve always voted Labour but how they’ve been on Gaza has really hit a nerve around here. I’m a Muslim, before anything else. But what’s he really going to change? We don’t need a Primark! That would only make the town worse…”
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