In response to yesterday's decision by the parliamentary standards watchdog to suspend Respect MP, George Galloway, Solidarity accuses the nation's political elite of conducting a sustained witchhunt against a man whose only crime is that he has dedicated his entire political career to speaking truth to power, and has been a thorn in the side of a government which has inflicted untold suffering and violence on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan in support of US aims to colonise the region.

Solidarity Co-Convenor, Tommy Sheridan, said: "Yesterday's decision to suspend George Galloway from Parliament for 18 days comes soon after we witnessed the disgusting standing ovation given to Tony Blair by those very same individuals. It really does illustrate the fact that we're now living in an upside down world, a world in which people like George, who've stood up against a brutal and bloody war that was unleashed on a tissue of lies, are victimised, while people like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who're responsible for this carnage, are lionised."

This latest attempt to undermine the credibility of the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow comes on the back of previous attempts lodged in both the UK and the US, all of which have been defeated. George Galloway's stance and tireless work on behalf of the people of the Middle East has earned him accolades and deep respect in every corner of the world. He is the people's Middle East peace envoy and we pledge to support him against those who, in their support and complicity in the ongoing carnage taking place in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, have blood on their hands.