What does George Galloway think about Brexit? Everything new Rochdale MP has said about UK leaving EU

Rochdale's new MP George Galloway is certainly not afraid of having controversial opinions.

From arguing Israel does not have a right to exist, to praising the Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein, the by-election victor has made a number of comments that would be unsavoury to many. And Galloway is also unusual in that he is a so-called “left-wing” politician who supported Brexit.

In 1975, a 20-year-old Galloway unsuccessfully campaigned for the UK to leave the European Communities and in 2016 he once again argued to leave the European Union during the referendum. He has also heaped praise on arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage since then. We take a look at everything Rochdale’s new MP has said about Brexit.

Grassroots Out

Galloway lost the seat of Bradford West in the 2015 general election, after being defeated by Labour’s Naz Shah. He still got involved in the referendum campaign, joining Nigel Farage’s group Grassroots Out (GO).

The campaign was funded by Arron Banks, who also bankrolled Leave.EU which Farage was involved in. Galloway first joined the GO venture in February 2016, giving a speech at a rally alongside Farage and Labour MP Kate Hoey. His appearance provoked outrage amongst Brexit supporters, with around 100 reportedly leaving in protest.

He also interviewed Farage on his Russia Today TV programme called Sputnik. Galloway agreed with the former Ukip leader that the UK should focus on the Commonwealth over Europe, and that the EU had “provoked” Vladimir Putin into annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Galloway said “I respect Putin and I think he's very popular in Russia and that's the point, he's the leader of Russia”, to which Farage replied “of course”. He also largely agreed with Farage’s comments on Brexit, saying at the end: “We're both, as it happens, on the same page, at least on this one.”

In March 2022, not long after Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ofcom revoked the Russian state-funded broadcaster’s licence in the UK, saying it was not a “fit and proper” or “responsible” media outlet.

In an argumentative BBC interview, he said: “It’s [Brexit is] bigger than all issues, it will affect the lives of all of our people for the rest of time. I am convinced Britain should leave … because I believe in democracy, I believe that Britain should control its own events, who comes into our country, who can be told to leave our country, what our foreign policy should be, what our economic policy should be - should be decided by the British people in a British Parliament.”

Brexit Party

Ahead of the European Elections in 2019, the last before the UK formally left the EU, Galloway offered his support to Farage and the Brexit Party. The former Labour MP tweeted: “Given the nature of Labour’s Euro-fanatic candidates list and the crucial juncture we have reached in the fight for the full implementation of the Brexit referendum result and for one-time only I will be supporting Nigel Farage in next month’s elections.”

He added: “I don’t ‘believe in Farage’ I believe in Brexit. Still more I believe in democracy. Galloway wrongly claimed would win “at least 50% of the vote”, saying “the working class in the north are on the move”. Farage’s party ended up winning 30% of the vote, and later in the year Boris Johnson won swathes of the Red Wall with the slogan “get Brexit done”.

Galloway continued: “This is a tactical judgement. I’m serious about Brexit. I’m even more serious about democracy.” Galloway also wrote a piece for RT explaining why he supported Brexit, arguing against immigration.

He said: “In any case, being opposed to mass immigration is not (necessarily) racist. There is nothing left-wing about mass immigration … Everybody knows this really—only Trotskyites and globalised capitalists really believe in ‘open borders’.”

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.