Bogus ballot papers issued, says Galloway

Thousands of fake ballot papers may have been issued in one of London's most marginal constituencies because the local council was politically corrupt, George Galloway claimed today.

The outspoken Respect MP today attacked Tower Hamlets over its handling of last month's general election in Bethnal Green and Bow. He defeated Labour's Oona King in the shock of the night.

Today he accused New Labour of interfering in the election, with the result that hundreds of postal votes appeared to have gone to "ghost" voters. Police are investigating. Mr Galloway said the electoral system should be overhauled.

He said: "My suspicion is this. That there were many hundreds - and perhaps in the low thousands - of people on the electoral roll who should not have been [there] for one reason or another."

Addressing a London Assembly inquiry into the fairness of elections, he gave a number of alleged examples he claimed were merely the "tip of the iceberg":

? A former nurses' home in Mile End to which 200 postal votes were sent, although it had been closed by the council 18 months earlier and turned into offices.

? A tiny house in Brick Lane to which 14 postal votes were sent although it would be akin to the "black hole of Calcutta".

? Labour party activists taking postal votes from voters and posting them to a trade union office in Newcastle.

?Threats to voters that if they put up posters for any party apart from Labour they would lose their council grant or job.

Mr Galloway said: "Tower Hamlets runs its elections in a way that would disgrace a banana republic. The people responsible ought to be embarrassed. The electoral roll was a shambles."

On the case of the former nurses' home, he said: "The possibility existed - I'm not suggesting it happened - that somebody could have collected the voting cards for 200 people at an address that no longer effectively existed, and cast votes on behalf of those people."

He told the inquiry what appeared to be official government communications were sent to voters telling them to send postal votes to the Labour Party rather than the council's returning officer.

Referring to the 19th-century regime in New York famous for being corrupt, he said, "Tower Hamlets makes Tammany Hall look like a tea party. It is in the grip of a corrupt political culture run by New Labour ruthlessly, using bullying, blackmail, postal vote operations - all the black arts you can imagine ... It's time somebody put a stop to it," he said.

He said it was wrong for parties to "put themselves between" the voter and the electoral registration officer. Respect has suggested reforms such as random checks on the electoral roll and checks on people applying for postal votes.

At the election Mr Galloway defeated Ms King by 823 votes, polling 15,801 to her 14,978.