George Galloway blames parliamentary expenses complaint on ‘Tel Aviv lawyers’

Former Respect MP George Galloway has blamed “Tel Aviv lawyers” for a police investigation into use of his parliamentary funds.

Galloway’s former parliamentary assistant Aisha Ali Khan reported him to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority earlier this year, claiming that she spent more time running personal errands for him than on official work.

She has alleged that, during her six-month stint as his taxpayer-funded assistant in 2012, she was required to help plan his wedding, shop for underwear, sort out his laundry, make his breakfast and work for the Viva Palestina charity.

Her lawyers say that this amounts to a breach of the requirement to use funds for parliamentary purposes. MrGalloway denies the allegations.

Following an assessment of Ms Ali Khan’s claims, Ipsa’s compliance officer Peter Davis has passed on the case to the Metropolitan Police.

An Ipsa spokesman said: “Ipsa’s compliance officer has completed his assessment of the George Galloway complaint and has passed it on to the Metropolitan Police Service.”

Galloway, lost his Bradford West seat at the General Election earlier this month, said: “This is mendacious attempt by an embittered former employee and criminal to smear me in an attempt to damage my future political plans. It won’t succeed and at the end of it I hope and trust that there will be legal consequences for all of those involved in this plot.”

He continued: “Her lawyers, based in Israel, have apparently now complained to the IPSA. These Tel Aviv lawyers are clearly acting for the bankrupt Khan pro bono. IPSA, without asking me a single question or informing me of the details of the complaint so that I could could answer them, have referred it to the police, with whom I will fully co-operate.“

He later tweeted: “It’s an outrage that a New York- Tel Aviv axis of evil can have parliament and media dancing to their tune. No paper will report these facts.“

Trevor Asserson, the litigation lawyers of Tel Aviv based English lawyers Asserson Law Offices, who filed the complaint with IPSA on behalf of Ali-Kahn said: “We looked at thousands of documents to confirm the veracity of what Ms Ali-Kahn told us. Her complaint is credible and compelling. We are pleased that IPSA seems to agree and recognises the seriousness of the issue and has sent the matter to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation.”