In case you haven't spotted this, George Galloway has today revealed that he was sexually abused as a child.
The Respect MP broke his lifelong silence on the issue in a column defending Harriet Harman's support for the government's controversial "barring and vetting" proposals for those whose work brings them into contact with children.
Writing in the Daily Record today, Galloway says:
I was a victim of sexual abuse, at the age of 11, at the hands of a person in a position of trust. He was a school janitor.He didn't just strike against me and he should not have been employed in that capacity. If Harriet's plans had been in place then, he never would have been.
I'm not saying the abuse has ruined my life or anything. I've had a happy life.
But it did affect my life and not in a good way and neither in ways I care to rehearse before you.
Every time a Soham murderer or a Dunblane Thomas Hamilton emerges, I die a little inside as I remember that dirty old man driven by the same perverted interest in sexually attacking kids.
I told no one, not even my wives, of what happened to me. All I feel is ashamed, though I was the child victim and he the aggressive predator.
He must be dead now and past shame and in a spirit of forgiveness; I hope he's roasting in the hell-fires. I tell you now because it just might help Harriet Harman win the argument with the anti-PC brigade.
I draw this to your attention because much is often written about the controversial ex-Labour MP but never before have I heard or read this particular detail. It takes a huge amount of courage for any victim of abuse to talk about their experience and this must be even more true for someone with a high public profile. Galloway has clearly chosen not to divulge any further details but his willingness to speak out in defence of those more vulnerable than himself must surely be applauded.
