George Galloway, former Labour MP and leader of the Workers Party of Britain (Phil Noble, Reuters)

Former MP George Galloway was detained by counter-terrorism police at Gatwick airport on Saturday, after reportedly returning from Russia.

Officers from the Met’s Terrorism Command intercepted the 71-year-old politician and his wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, 40, before releasing them shortly after.

The pair were returning to the UK from Moscow via Abu Dhabi, according to reports.

Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain, which Pertiwi is deputy chair of, claimed the detention was ‘politically motivated intimidation’.

Galloway briefly regained a seat in Parliament in 2024 via the Rochdale by-election, but lost it again later that year (Anthony Devlin/Getty)
A party statement read: ‘Our party condemns the attempt to intimidate those who seek amity rather than enmity with the rest of the world.

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‘Our leader George Galloway and our deputy chair Gayatri Galloway have now been released without charge.’

‘There was never any chance of an offence.

‘We were obstructed from providing legal support and the conduct of the affair has been designed to intimidate political opponents of the drive towards war with Russia and China.’

PARTY STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF GEORGE AND GAYATRI GALLOWAYOur party condemns the attempt to intimidate those who seek amity rather than enmity with the rest of the world.Our leader @georgegalloway and our deputy chair @GayatriGalloway have now been released without charge.… pic.twitter.com/fhdiIBKNjJ
— Workers Party of Britain (@WorkersPartyGB) September 27, 2025

The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act allows police to stop, question, search and detain people at ports and borders to determine if they have engaged in ‘hostile activity’.

In May, Mr Galloway travelled to Moscow to attend Russia’s Victory Parade. Days earlier, he had been in Iran to receive an award.

That award was named in honour of Ismail Haniyeh, the former political leader of Hamas, who was killed by Israel in July 2024.

According to The Herald, he had arrived into Gatwick from Moscow via Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Galloway was formerly a Labour MP, but was from the party after falling out with then-PM Tony Blair over the Iraq war (Getty Images)
Galloway first entered Parliament in 1987, winning the Glasgow Hillhead seat for Labour.

He was expelled from the party in 2003 after a clash with then-prime minister Tony Blair over the UK’s role in the Iraq war.

Galloway later sat as an independent before joining the Respect Party, which campaigned against the conflict.

His most recent return to Parliament was in 2024 after winning the Rochdale by-election, which then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called ‘beyond alarming’. Galloway lost the seat later that year in the General Election.

While sitting as an MP in 2006, he also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and was widely mocked over footage in which he pretended to be a cat.

The Met was approached for comment.

A spokesperson previously told the Herald Scotland: ‘We can confirm that on Saturday, 27 September 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.’

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