George Galloway is not the only one profiting from the pain of Gaza Jonathan Freedland

There has been a lot of talk about George Galloway in recent days, much of it negative and almost all of it true.

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But one charge thrown at the new member for Rochdale winner of a byelection victory last week as sweeping as the triumph he recorded in Bradford West more than a decade ago - is false and unfair.

Start with the accusations that stand up. Galloway poses as a man of the left - his latest vehicle is called the Workers party of Britain. But he backed Nigel Farage's Brexit party (now Reform) in 2019 and the Conservatives in Scotland in 2021.

In Rochdale, he won the warm endorsement of Nick Griffin, the former leader of the British National party. "George Galloway isn't just right on keeping us out of Zionist wars," wrote Griffin. "He also understands the position of working class white Brits on immigration." Offered the chance to reject that support on Radio 4's Today programme, Galloway's deputy - the former MP Chris Williamson, who was suspended from Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party over comments he made about antisemitism - pointedly refused.