respect
30-04-2005, 12:56 AM
George Galloway, the Respect candidate in Bethnal Green and Bow, condemned New Labour 'dirty tricks' over the attack on a Labour-supporting pensioner.
He said that the initial report statement given to the police by the man was wildly at variance with what he was now claiming. And that the man's claim that a Respect leaflet was left at the scene by the attacker was simply untrue, because the leaflet did not then exist.
New Labour's Oona King yesterday issued a press release about an alleged assault on Les Dobrovolski, 69. It was claimed that he was attacked by Respect supporters and that he was left with a broken nose, cuts and a damaged right hand. After the assault a Respect/George Galloway leaflet was said to have been left on or about his prone body.
Ms King visited him and Mr Dobrovolski gave extensive press interviews yesterday. His story is that he argued with a group of Respect supporters on Thursday, April 21 in Poplar. He said to them that he would never vote for George Galloway. One young man then followed him and attacked him near Spitalfield Market, leaving the leaflet on or near him. That leaflet, and the victim, were photographed and filmed extensively by the media.
The truth is that this is a disgraceful and desperate Oona King and New Labour smear. As the following facts will make clear.
The original argument was said to have occurred in Poplar. This is not within the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency – therefore canvassing on George Galloway’s behalf would seem unlikely. But anyway, we had no canvassers out at the time claimed.
In his statement when interviewed by the police Mr Dobrovolski did not claim that he had been assaulted by a Respect supporter or that a leaflet had been left on his body. It was only seven days later, and through New Labour, that this allegation was made! The Metropolitan Police, in an advisory to the press, substantiate this.
If he had, at the time, claimed a Respect attack, police would have visited and interviewed officials and senior members of Respect. There has been no contact from the Met. As evidence, the police would also have taken the leaflet in question, to forensically test it. This did not happen. Indeed this could not have happened, as the following will make clear.
The most damning fact which disproves the account is that the leaflet in question is a postal leaflet, which was delivered directly to Royal Mail by the printers Lithosphere on Friday – a day after the attack! (A letter from Lithosphere, available from Respect, confirms this.) Not one copy was sent to any Respect office or outlet.
It is therefore impossible that this leaflet was left on Mr Dobrovolski, as it didn’t exist at the time.
This is the third serious and entirely fallacious allegation Oona King has made, in an attempt to stir up ill-feeling, while professing to abhor it. She has also had to pay George Galloway two sets of libel damages (donated to charity).
George Galloway said that he would be calling on the police to re-interview Mr Dobrolovski. “I feel very sorry for him,” he said “but New Labour are cynically using his battering to assault our campaign. The attack simply cannot have occurred in the way New Labour are portraying it.”
He said that the initial report statement given to the police by the man was wildly at variance with what he was now claiming. And that the man's claim that a Respect leaflet was left at the scene by the attacker was simply untrue, because the leaflet did not then exist.
New Labour's Oona King yesterday issued a press release about an alleged assault on Les Dobrovolski, 69. It was claimed that he was attacked by Respect supporters and that he was left with a broken nose, cuts and a damaged right hand. After the assault a Respect/George Galloway leaflet was said to have been left on or about his prone body.
Ms King visited him and Mr Dobrovolski gave extensive press interviews yesterday. His story is that he argued with a group of Respect supporters on Thursday, April 21 in Poplar. He said to them that he would never vote for George Galloway. One young man then followed him and attacked him near Spitalfield Market, leaving the leaflet on or near him. That leaflet, and the victim, were photographed and filmed extensively by the media.
The truth is that this is a disgraceful and desperate Oona King and New Labour smear. As the following facts will make clear.
The original argument was said to have occurred in Poplar. This is not within the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency – therefore canvassing on George Galloway’s behalf would seem unlikely. But anyway, we had no canvassers out at the time claimed.
In his statement when interviewed by the police Mr Dobrovolski did not claim that he had been assaulted by a Respect supporter or that a leaflet had been left on his body. It was only seven days later, and through New Labour, that this allegation was made! The Metropolitan Police, in an advisory to the press, substantiate this.
If he had, at the time, claimed a Respect attack, police would have visited and interviewed officials and senior members of Respect. There has been no contact from the Met. As evidence, the police would also have taken the leaflet in question, to forensically test it. This did not happen. Indeed this could not have happened, as the following will make clear.
The most damning fact which disproves the account is that the leaflet in question is a postal leaflet, which was delivered directly to Royal Mail by the printers Lithosphere on Friday – a day after the attack! (A letter from Lithosphere, available from Respect, confirms this.) Not one copy was sent to any Respect office or outlet.
It is therefore impossible that this leaflet was left on Mr Dobrovolski, as it didn’t exist at the time.
This is the third serious and entirely fallacious allegation Oona King has made, in an attempt to stir up ill-feeling, while professing to abhor it. She has also had to pay George Galloway two sets of libel damages (donated to charity).
George Galloway said that he would be calling on the police to re-interview Mr Dobrolovski. “I feel very sorry for him,” he said “but New Labour are cynically using his battering to assault our campaign. The attack simply cannot have occurred in the way New Labour are portraying it.”