George Galloway Interview 2007

British Member of Parliament George Galloway discusses his new Fidel Castro Handbook. As Fidel Castro turned eighty, Galloway published a look at the Cuban leader's life from childhood, through his dramatic conquest of power, and his leadership of Cuba over forty-seven years — including takes on the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra, life with the Soviet Union, involvement in Third World politics, and survival in the face of the hostility of the United States just ninety miles away. Galloway is a British politician noted for his socialist views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill. He is currently the Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow, and was previously elected as a Labour Party MP for Glasgow Hillhead and Glasgow Kelvin. He is perhaps best known for his vigorous campaign to overturn economic sanctions against Iraq, and for his visits to Saddam Hussein in 1994 and 2002. He was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 when a party body decided that he had brought the party into disrepute over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when he called the Labour government "Tony Blair's lie machine" and stated that British soldiers should "refuse to obey illegal orders". Recorded March 20, 2007