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In 1983 Galloway became General Secretary of the charity War on Want, which had strong Labour Party connections (it had been founded by Harold Wilson) but within only four years faced accusations of misuse of his expenses account, which was £21,000 in 1985-86, to stay in luxury hotels when on foreign trips .

In March 1991, the charity commissioners published a damaging report into the financial affairs of War on Want. It found evidence of serious mismanagement during the time Mr Galloway and the Singaporean lawyer, Francis Khoo, were general secretaries. Both were accused of "lacking expertise in crucial areas", and of failing to alert the charity's governing council of management to warning signs.

The report concluded that War on Want mingled its own funds with money held on special trusts and with funds managed for a consortium of charities, intended to relieve famine in the Horn of Africa. It also failed to keep separate accounts.

In effect, the charity lent money interest-free to its non-charitable associated companies, War on Want Trading Ltd and WOW Campaigns. The report found only "minor evidence" that any of the £30m the charity spent between 1984 and 1989 was used for non-charitable purposes.

Mr Galloway's tenure at War on Want ended acrimoniously. He was accused by the Daily Mirror of living the high life at the charity's expense. The management council ordered an inquiry, and in September 1987, Galloway was forced to return thousands of pounds to the War on Want before charges of embezzlement against him were dropped.

War on Want was found to have been insolvent, and subsequently dismissed all its staff and went into administration. It was rescued and relaunched in 1991.