'I slept in a drawer in a slum as a baby': George Galloway's moving take on Greater Manchester's 'disgrace'

George Galloway recalled how he grew up sleeping in the attic drawer of a slum during a debate on substandard housing in Parliament.

The Rochdale MP gave an insight into his early years growing up in Scotland during a speech he dedicated to the toddler Awaab Ishak died as a result of damp and mould in his home.

During the debate he told the House of Commons about the poor state of housing in the Greater Manchester borough, and elsewhere in the country, which he dubbed as a “national disgrace”.

The Workers Party leader said: “I was born in a slum—in an attic. There was just one room, with a sloping roof. I was horrifying my children this very morning, telling them how I had to sleep in a drawer.

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“They thought that my mother pushed it in the drawer at night. If that were the case, I would not be here now. I know how things were in the bad, bad old days.

“Everything is relative, I accept that. Now I live a good life, and I assume that the Minister does, too. But empathy requires us to take a walk in the other person’s shoes, particularly when we represent them; particularly when their votes are the reason that we are here.”

Awaab died in December 2020 due to damp and mould exposure, Mr Galloway told the Commons how he has seen more houses in the area with hazards ‘that could kill somebody’ on a daily basis. The Rochdale MP said changing housing for the better could make people healthier and happier.

He added that 11.7 per cent of Rochdale homes are officially deemed to be in housing deprivation, compared with the national average of 7.8 per cent.

During the debate, he called on housing minister Lee Rowley to ‘Save Rochdale’ and to