Galloway’s charm offensive leaves Miliband unmoved
Ed Miliband remains committed to George Galloway's removal from the Commons, despite the recent charm offensive from the Bradford West MP.
Galloway told the Evening Standard earlier this week he viewed Miliband as being "quite impressive, physically and intellectually", after meeting him a few months ago.
The improbable meeting took place before January's boundary changes vote, after the Labour leader succeeded in defeating the Conservatives' proposed redrawing of Britain's electoral map by working with the Liberal Democrats and minority party leaders.
Galloway returned to parliament after winning the 'Bradford Spring' by-election in Bradford West, which had been a safe Labour seat. He began courting the man who he had humiliated with the result by declaring earlier this week: "I want to see Ed Miliband as prime minister and the sooner the better."
Earlier this morning Miliband took the opportunity to make clear the feeling is not mutual.
"He might want me to be prime minister, but I don't want him to be an MP," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
"George Galloway isn't coming back to the Labour party. We want to defeat him at the next election in his Bradford West seat."
The comments prompted a prompt about-turn from Galloway, who used his Twitter account to lambast the man he had only days earlier suggested was the best man to lead the country.
"I realise now that I showed poor judgement in finally agreeing to meet Miliband," he fumed, calling the Labour leader "an unprincipled coward with the backbone of an amoeba".
Galloway spent 16 years as a Labour MP, before being kicked out of the party for comments he made about the Iraq War.
He returned to parliament in 2005 as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow but lost his seat in 2010. A surprise third return came in what he termed the "Bradford Spring". Analysts put his victory down to a local political vacuum which his grassroots Respect organisation took advantage of, secure a serious setback for Labour.
Galloway's victory in March 2012 saw him secure nearly 56% of the vote. He has a majority of 5,763 which could prove difficult for Miliband's party to overturn in 2015.
Since returning to parliament Galloway has faced criticism for the scarcity of his appearances in the Commons, been banned by the National Union of Students for comments about the Julian Assange rape case and stormed out of a debate after discovering his opponent was an Israeli.
Miliband offered his own assessment of Galloway's political views earlier, calling them "awful".
