George Galloway hits out after airport arrest by terror police - telling of nine-hour detention and equipment being seized By MATT STRUDWICK, NEWS REPORTER
Published: 16:27 EDT, 28 September 2025 | Updated: 16:34 EDT, 28 September 2025
George Galloway tonight launched into an extraordinary rant after he and his wife were detained by counter-terror police for nine hours at Gatwick Airport.
The angered former MP, 71, claimed armed police swooped on him and Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, 40, on Saturday.
Reports said the couple had returned to the UK from Moscow via Abu Dhabi.
Mr Galloway said he was quizzed for four hours and asked about his views on Russia and China.
While his wife was questioned for five hours in which he claimed she was asked about 'her famous fingernail, painted in the Palestinian colours'.
In a slew of unfounded accusations at the start of his Mother Of All Talk Shows broadcast, the leader of the Workers Party of Britain claimed they were detained under the terrorism act 'to gain access to our communications'.
But he defiantly said they were 'unintimidatable' before launching into a scathing diatribe against counter terrorism officers.
'If they don't know that, they are too stupid to be anti-terrorism police, they're too stupid to be in MI5 if they think they can intimidate me. Not even death will intimidate me.
'There is only one reason why they detained us there, under that legislation - it was to gain access to our communications, to confiscate phones, to confiscate laptops, and to enter and burgle and see what they can do with our private communications.'
He claimed officers asked him for a password 'for a phone that wasn't mine', but he told them 'I don't have the password, and if I did I wouldn't give it to you' as 'I wouldn't betray my sources to you'.
'It's come to something when a man like me, a man with the profile that I have, can be stopped by armed policemen at an English airport,' he said.
George Galloway, 71, with his wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, 40, in 2024 speaks to the media outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster after being sworn in as a MP
Mr Galloway claimed he and his wife were detained by counter terror police at Gatwick for nine hours, where his partner was asked about her 'her famous fingernail, painted in the Palestinian colours'
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Speaking on tonight's edition of his internet show, he added: 'Not a single effort was made to show cause for having detained me and her with armed officers in public in an English airport.'
Addressing his viewers, he said: 'If they can arrest me under the terrorism Act at an English airport, what hope have you got?'
Mr Galloway said he had travelled to the UK to give a speech in London at an event due to be attended by the Chinese ambassador.
'Held together with my wife for nine hours,' he said.
'Missing the engagement that I had come to London to perform, and having to make that weary journey back on the train with no phones, with no laptop, incommunicado, unable to speak with any of our family, any of our comrades, any of our friends, or any of our legal representatives.'
The Met said in a statement on Saturday: 'We can confirm that on Saturday September 27, 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 Act gives police, immigration and customs officers the power to stop people to find out if they are 'engaged in hostile activities that threaten national security or the economic well-being of the UK'.
The Workers Party of Britain yesterday said the move was 'politically motivated intimidation', claiming police have refused to reveal any information.
In a statement shared on X, they 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.
The politician controversially made an appearance in Moscow as Russia's Vladimir Putin celebrated Victory Day with a huge military parade in May
'We call on all supporters and friends to amplify this message and demand the IMMEDIATE RELEASE of our leaders.'
Mr Galloway controversially made an appearance in Moscow as Russia's Vladimir Putin celebrated Victory Day with a huge military parade in May.
Taking to X to share snaps of himself in Moscow, Galloway called the Victory Day Celebrations 'moving, emotional, inspiring, humbling.'
Pictures posted by the politician show him and his fourth wife - who is 30 years his junior - posing for the camera on Red Square.
The Workers Party of Britain leader lost his Rochdale seat at last year's general election just months after winning the constituency in a shock by-election.
He has criticised British and US foreign policies during his career, including their support for Ukraine.
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