Dude, You’re A Furry. You Have No Reputation To Destroy.

Jun 2, 2008

By Patrick.

George Galloway, the ex-Labour Member of Parliament who rose to international fame for his support of Saddam Hussein, feels he’s been defamed.

His lawyers claim Galloway was libelled in an episode shown last November which showed a character called Paul Sagger MP who had smuggled drugs back from Iraq and looted an antique dagger from a Baghdad museum.

The character is injured during a shooting that kills a Muslim cleric at a Rock Against Racism gig, an event held in Galloway’s own east London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow.

Neither TalkBack Thames nor George Galloway’s parliamentary office would comment on the case, but both confirmed that a letter of complaint had been sent by Galloway’s lawyers to the legal department of Talkback Thames.

Even under the UK’s outrageously plaintiff-friendly libel laws, truth is a defense. Galloway has had this dirty laundry aired in previous lawsuits. Would anyone except for a showboating narcissist want to have it aired again, particularly in a case involving a fictional character?

Another requirement for a libel case, even in the UK, is that damages must be proven. That is, the plaintiff must prove that his reputation has been injured. Galloway’s last brush with international fame happened when he was depicted on the hit reality tv show Big Brother, pretending to be a cat lapping the contents from an imaginary bowl of cream.