George Galloway sacked from radio station over 'anti-semitic' tweet
2 min read
George Galloway has been fired by talkRadio after being accused of posting an "anti-semitic" tweet.
The former Labour and Respect party MP has been dumped from his weekly radio slot after he celebrated Liverpool's Champions League final over Tottenham Hotspur saying there would be no "Israel flags on the Cup".
In a statement, the station said it had sacked Mr Galloway from his 'Mother of all Talkshows' programme with "immediate effect".
It added: "As a fair and balanced news provider, talkRADIO does not tolerate anti-semitic views."
Mr Galloway, a long-time supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, provoked fury after he tweeted following Liverpool's win on Saturday: "Congratulations to the great people of Liverpool to the memory of the socialist miner BillShankley (sic) to the fallen 96 to those who fought for justice for them and to the Liverpool dockers. No Israel flags on the Cup."
The London club, which has historically been heavily supported by the UK's Jewish community, called for Mr Galloway to be sacked for posting "blatant anti-semitism" on Twitter.
A club spokesperson said: "It's astounding in this day and age to read such blatant antisemitism published on a social platform by someone who is still afforded air time on a radio station on which he has previously broken broadcast impartiality rules."
In a tweet on Monday, Mr Galloway said he had been given a "red card" from the broadcaster for "over-celebrating" Liverpool's Championship win as he vowed to take the station to court.
He added: "See you in Court guys. #Palestine #Moats Long live Palestine."
Earlier this year, regulator Ofcom accused talkRadio of "serious" breaches of the broadcast impartiality code over one of Mr Galloway's on-air discussions about the Labour Party and its response to anti-semitism allegations.
In a separate incident, the watchdog rapped the show for breaching impartiality rules during Mr Galloway's coverage of the Salisbury Novichok posionings.
But Mr Galloway vowed his show would return "momentarily" after claiming he had expected it to be taken off the air.
"I have been expecting the closure of [the show] since the Ofcom attack on the Skripal and Corbyn episodes," he said.
"Hence plans are well advanced and the 'Mother of All Talkshows' will be back momentarily bigger better and certainly uncensored. Thank you for this outpouring of support."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
