George Galloway’s new hobby-horse on Press TV and some of his other outlets is to attack what he sees as a hypocrisy in the way the West so loudly condemns the Iranian government, but is considerably softer on the Saudi Arabian regime.

It’s absolutely true that the Saudi regime does not receive enough attention from the West, but Galloway would be on much stronger ground if he did not appear twice-weekly on the Iranian regime’s Press TV channel and did not write ‘You can count on the fact the [the Iranian] election was fair’. The best people, George, condemn both the Saudi and Iranian regimes.

However, it has been admirable to hear him hold Saudi Arabia to account for its human rights violations. Until, during this week’s episode of his Comment show during which he had angrily condemned the Saudi regime, he clarified: “The idea that women in Saudi Arabia are treated universally badly is also wrong…I’m not here condemning Saudi Arabia for its attitude towards women.”

Women in Saudi Arabia have to wear the hijab and are viciously harassed if they do not comply. They are not allowed to drive. Just five per cent of the workforce (the smallest percentage in the world) are women, who are only allowed to work under very limited conditions. A female victim of a gang rape was recently jailed and lashed to punish her for not being with a male relative chaperone at the time of her attack. Many Saudi homes have separate entrances for men and women. Saudi women are only allowed a bank account if they have the permission of their husband. Female illiteracy is high…

…I could go on. The above is what George Galloway was not condemning.

For my account of a past episode of Comment, click here.