George Galloway detained at Gatwick airport under Terrorism Act

 George Galloway and his wife were detained by police under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act at Gatwick airport on Saturday.

The former MP was stopped by counter-terrorism officers after arriving in London from Moscow, via Abu Dhabi, according to reports.

The Workers Party of Britain, the party Mr Galloway leads, said the detention was “politically motivated intimidation” and demanded he be freed. The couple were later released without charge.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said Mr Galloway and Putri Gayatri Pertiwi had been detained under schedule 3 of the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which allows officers to stop, question, search and detain a person at a border area to determine if they have engaged in hostile activity.

A Met spokesman said: “We can confirm that on Saturday, counter-terrorism officers at Gatwick airport stopped a man in his 70s and a woman in her 40s under schedule 3 of the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

“Neither of them were arrested and they were allowed on their way.”

The Workers Party of Britain said: “At 11am we were informed by police officers in Gatwick that our party leader George Galloway and his wife have been detained at the airport.

“The police agreed that they would pass a message to our comrades from us and pass back a reply from them.

“Despite repeated attempts to gather further information, and despite repeated calls to the police, we have no further information on their wellbeing, nor on the observation of their rights.

“There is no information on charges or alleged offences. Therefore we may conclude this is politically motivated intimidation.”

In May, Mr Galloway travelled Moscow to attend the Russian Victory Parade. Days before his appearance at the Kremlin, he had been in Iran collecting an award.

The honour he received was named after Ismail Haniyeh, the former political head of the terrorist organisation Hamas, who was assassinated by Israel in July 2024.

Mr Galloway was first elected to Parliament in 1987, taking the Glasgow Hillhead seat for Labour. 

In 2003, he fell out with Sir Tony Blair over the UK’s intervention in Iraq, leading to his expulsion from the party. He then became an independent MP before joining the Respect Party, which focused on opposing the war in Iraq. 

Mr Galloway left Scotland after his seat was abolished ahead of the 2005 general election and contested the east London seat of Bethnal Green and Bow, which he won. 

He appeared on the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 while still an MP and was widely ridiculed over footage in which he pretended to be a cat. 

Mr Galloway returned to Parliament in 2012 after winning the Bradford West by-election, only to lose his seat at the next general election in 2015.