George misses the vote

George Galloway will miss a crucial debate on the Crossrail project because he is in the Big Brother house.

His absence will further fuel growing accusations that he is letting down his East End constituents and neglecting his duties. Unless Mr Galloway is evicted from the Channel 4 show before Thursday, he will miss a key parliamentary discussion of the controversial £500 million scheme, which is planned to carve a path through his Bethnal Green and Bow constituency from 2015.

Crossrail will provide a transport link between Heathrow and the City and Canary Wharf via Whitechapel and Liverpool Street. Among the issues to be discussed is whether tunnelling should begin from a huge access hole near Brick Lane - disrupting the lives, homes and businesses of thousands of people. Tower Hamlets council leader Michael Keith today hit out at Mr Galloway, who is being paid a reported £60,000 to appear on the reality show.

He said: "Local MPs should be representing the interests of the area in these crucial issues. He is paid to do a job and he is clearly not doing it." A London Labour Party source added: "Crossrail is one of the most important issues facing Galloway's constituents and it is amazing that he has chosen to miss a debate on it in order to appear on a reality TV show. It is a complete dereliction of duty."

Figures show the firebrand leader of the anti-war Respect Party already has one of the worst attendance records of any MP. Since the general election in May, Mr Galloway has turned up for only 15.5 per cent of parliamentary votes, placing him 643rd out of 645 MPs.

In contrast, his neighbour Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, attended 87 per cent of votes. West Ham MP Lyn Brown attended 91 per cent.

Mr Galloway has spoken in only four parliamentary debates since the election - making him 556th out of 645 MPs. He claims he plans to use Big Brother for the good of politics and to raise money for Palestinian charity Interpal.

But many voters complain that he already spends more time on book promotion tours and abroad than fighting for their interests.

Constituent Linda Waeland, 50, who works at the Beigel Bake bakery in Brick Lane, said: "I can't forgive him for this. He is not a celebrity, although he thinks he is.

He should be in Parliament fighting for us, not getting paid lots of money to go on a game show."

Actress Helen Mirren, who lives in the constituency, added: "Where does this guy's ambition go? That's very peculiar. Personally I feel that his interest is a self-interest."