George Galloway sacked as columnist for Holyrood Magazine following Julian Assange rape comments
Following controversial comments made about the sexual assault charges being faced by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Holyrood magazine has dropped George Galloway as a columnist.
Galloway had claimed that Assange, who is currently evading extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault charges by seeking asylum within the Ecuador Embassy in London, was guilty of ‘bad sexual etiquette’.
Following his defence of the comments yesterday, the Respect MP has been fired by Holyrood magazine.
In a statement made on the magazine’s website, editor Mandy Rhodes said; “George Galloway is no longer a columnist for Holyrood magazine and the reasons for that, I would have thought, are fairly obvious. Galloway has always courted controversy and while I have not always agreed with some of his views, I have admired him for staying true to his original political beliefs and particularly for his stance over Iraq.
“I had always felt that in an increasingly bland and corporate political world, he added some colour and was often an effective thorn in the side of the establishment. If nothing else, he provoked debate which is healthy. However, his recent outpourings about definitions of rape have left me, frankly gobsmacked. There is no excuse, ever, for sex without consent and regardless of the details of the Assange case, Galloway’s comments and inappropriate language about rape per se are alarming. I had hoped he might have taken the last 24 hours to reflect on his judgement and perhaps make some kind of public apology but that has not been apparent, far from it. So, it is with some very genuine regret that I have asked him to no longer write his column for the magazine.”