The decline of George Galloway

The decay and decline of George Galloway was on full display in Oxford last night when he stormed out of a debate with a third-year PPE student from Brasenose College. The student’s crime was to be an Israeli, a discovery which led Galloway to declare: ‘I don’t debate with Israelis. I have been misled.’ He then got up to leave. ‘I don’t recognise Israel and I don’t debate with Israelis,’ Galloway said as he exited the room.

This is, of course, the old curmudgeon’s stock-in-trade. Galloway has made a career trading in the worst forms of sectarian and dog whistle politics. The Independent’s Owen Jones was busy calling on the Left to learn from Galloway at the weekend, arguing:

Gorgeous George is one of the most charismatic politicians of our time, but also one of the most divisive, and still manages to win over the audience. You don’t have to like him; but, if you want to change the world, you do have to learn from him.