Former UK MP George Galloway and his wife were stopped at London’s Gatwick airport by counter-terrorism police, multiple reports stated on Saturday.
Galloway was returning to London from Moscow through Abu Dhabi, the Workers Party for Britain announced.
A later statement from the Metropolitan Police stated that a man in his 70s and woman in her 40s were stopped under the counter terrorism act, but that neither of them were arrested.
The police also said that the stops were made under schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act of 2019, which allows police to search, stop and question people in the UK to determine if they have taken part in any hostile activity.
Anyone detained by police under the act may be required to provide information, including passwords to electronic devices.
Police can also retain, copy, use and destroy any items found during the search, even if it contains confidential material.
Galloway’s party condemned the incident, calling it "politically motivated intimidation" and added that freedom of expression is lying "on the scrap heap".
Galloway and his wife were both released without charge, the Workers Party of Britain said.
"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," they continued.
Galloway was a Labour MP until 2003 and sat in the Commons as an independent and Respect Party MP for three constituencies until 2015.
In 2019, he founded the Workers Party of Britain, which he now leads.
[SRC] https://www.newarab.com/news/galloway-stopped-gatwick-airport-counter-terrorism-police
