Labour suspends Galloway as third inquiry is launched

The maverick MP George Galloway was suspended yesterday by the Labour Party, which launched an internal investigation into his conduct during the Iraq conflict.

The inquiry was provoked by comments made by Mr Galloway on Abu Dhabi television in which he accused Tony Blair and President George Bush of being "wolves" for attacking Iraq and urged British soldiers to refuse to obey "illegal" orders.

The investigation will also cover suggestions in interviews – including one in The Independent – that he would stand as an independent MP against a Labour candidate if the party refused to let him represent it.

In a separate move, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Philip Mawer, announced he was making preliminary inquiries into allegations by The Daily Telegraph – which Mr Galloway has said are "lies" – that he received about £375,000 from the Iraqi regime.

Mr Galloway, who has been a Labour member for 35 years, said the decision to suspend him was "completely unjust". The MP for Glasgow Kelvin said it was "grotesque" for the party to discipline him for speaking his mind on the war.

David Triesman, general secretary of the Labour Party, said Labour had decided to suspend Mr Galloway "to protect the party's reputation". The suspension, which could lead to permanent expulsion or a written warning, will mean that he can continue as an MP but will be banned from representing Labour.

Mr Triesman has given the Glasgow MP "formal notice" in a letter that he is "suspended from holding office or representing the party pending the outcome of internal party investigations. This suspension is effective forthwith".

Mr Galloway said the inquiries were prejudicial to his libel action against the Daily Telegraph and the Christian Science Monitor and claimed the announcements were "extraordinarily carefully co-ordinated moves". He added: "No less than three processes controlled by the Labour leadership have been unleashed against me on the same day. It is completely unjust. In fact, it offends all principles of natural justice. I have embarked upon a considerable legal undertaking to prove in court the falseness of the allegations against me."

Mr Galloway said the suspension from the party "after 35 years of membership" was "particularly hard to bear".

"It is tantamount to political exile," he said. "It really is grotesque that someone can be suspended from the party for speaking against a war."

The Labour Party said it could not say how long the investigation, conducted by deputy general secretary, Chris Lennie, would take or whether they would affect Mr Galloway's chances of standing again for Labour at the next general election. If Mr Galloway, who has been a Glasgow MP since 1987, remains suspended when the selections for the next election take place, he will be unable to represent the party in the new constituency of Glasgow Central.

The Charity Commission has also launched an investigation into his campaign fund, the Mariam appeal.