War & Peace Quote by George Galloway

Galloway’s denial is engineered to do two jobs at once: clear his name and mock the very premise of the accusation. The triple rhythm of “never” turns the statement into a verbal firewall, each clause reinforcing the next until the listener is meant to feel that doubt itself is unreasonable. Then comes the punchline: “I have never seen a barrel of oil.” It’s a deliberately literal image deployed against a figurative charge. Corruption is being framed as a tactile thing you’d have to physically handle, like contraband passed hand-to-hand, rather than a network of favors, intermediaries, and influence. That’s not naïveté; it’s strategy.

The context matters. This is Galloway, the anti-war firebrand who built a profile by attacking the Iraq invasion and the sanctions regime, speaking with a moral certainty that made enemies in establishment politics. Allegations that he benefited from Saddam-era oil arrangements weren’t just legal claims; they were a narrative weapon designed to recast dissent as profiteering. His response doesn’t merely rebut facts, it defends a political identity: principled outsider versus cynical system.

The subtext is combative and performative: if you’re accusing me of being bought, you’re also accusing the anti-war movement of being a front. By collapsing a complex allegation into an absurdly concrete image, Galloway tries to make the charge sound like a smear that can’t survive daylight. It’s a classic parliamentary street-fighter move: deny, ridicule, and force the audience to choose between believing paperwork and believing the man in the room.