By George!

The row over George Galloway's involvement in Grassroots Out certainly proves one thing: that George Galloway is the UK politician who most accurately deserves that favourite BBC adjective for politicians it disapproves of: 'divisive'. 

Beside the walkout at the GO! launch itself, I don't think I've seen the pro-Leave commentariat 'below the line' at certain anti-EU sites quite so divided for a while. Even the commentariat at Raheem Kassam's Breitbart London were split asunder by his abrupt change of heart over the Galloway move.

Whatever the merits of getting a powerful orator like GG on board, making his involvement the dramatic crowning moment of the launch of a movement which aims to unify the Leave campaign but which results in anger and fresh divisions can't have been entirely a good thing for their campaign, can it?

And the 'establishment' are loving it.

Here's an exchange from this morning's paper review on BBC Breakfast between Naga Munchetty and Professor Jon Tonge of Liverpool University (which you may read elsewhere!):

Naga: We focus a lot on the divisions within parties. But we should also look at the alliances across parties, and there are some reeeaaally unlikely bed fellows: George Galloway and Nigel Farage!

Jon Tonge: Yeah, the ultimate unholy alliance in some ways. 

And here's an exchange from the mid-morning paper review on the BBC News Channel between Gavin Esler and Bronwyn Curtis from the Society of Business Economists:

Gavin: So who scares you most?
Bronwyn Curtis: Well, George Galloway probably!
          (General laughter)

And here's Janet Daley on this week's Dateline London:

It is true that this kind of charade with Farage and Galloway is seriously damaging to the image of the Leave campaign. People ask themselves when they vote 'What does this say about me?' and this could have a significant negative effect on the potential Leave vote.

And Andrew Marr and Nick Robinson were chuckling about them this morning on the Marr paper review, and then Andrew Marr really went to town with Nigel Farage over it later.

Sigh.