George Galloway responds to being detained and questioned at Gatwick airport in a broadcast on September 28, 2025. Photo: screenshot of Galloway's broadcast on Youtube

Former UK MP George Galloway on Sunday slammed the action which he called "intimidation" after counter-terror armed forces had held him at Gatwick airport for nine hours, confiscated his phone and laptop and questioned him about his views on China and Russia, the Telegraph reported. 

The Workers Party of Britain (WPB) said its leader Galloway and Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, the party's deputy chair, were detained on Saturday morning. They had reportedly returned to the UK from Moscow via Abu Dhabi, BBC reported.

The police said that the couple were stopped by counter-terrorism officers but neither were arrested and they were "allowed on their way," while the WPB condemned what it described as "politically motivated intimidation." 

Speaking on Sunday's episode of his internet show, Galloway said: "Not a single effort was made to show cause for having detained me and her with armed officers in public in an English airport."

"If they can arrest me under the terrorism act at an English airport, what hope have you got?" He said police questions ranged "far and wide, right down to Gayatri's famous fingernail painted in the Palestinian colors," the Telegraph reported. 

Li Guanjie, a research fellow with the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies under the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday that since the Brexit, the divisions among various political forces have remained unhealed and the anti-immigration wave post Brexit has further intensified the fragmentation of public opinions. 

Given the clashes of views have become increasingly fierce in the UK, public figures with influence, left-wing or right-wing, are often seen as an element of instability by the British government who may deem actions necessary to prevent them from starting a movement, Li continued. 

Citing the protest organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson saw up to 150,000 people march through central London in mid-September, and more than 20 police officers were injuring when policing the gathering, Li said that divisions between different groups in British society, and reactions are expressed in a more intense format.

In the Sunday internet show, Galloway also said officers had questioned him about his views on Russia and China, per Telegraph. 

Leftist forces have long been active in the UK but were never a mainstream, according to Li, who added that people should not be seen as a threat or treated by "overreaction" just for expressing some kindness to Russia or China.    

Galloway was expelled from the Labour over his critical stance on British involvement in the 2003 Iraq war. He then sat in the Commons as an independent and Respect Party MP for three constituencies between 2003 and 2015. In March 2024 he became the WPB's first MP, after winning a by-election in Rochdale, before losing it in that year's general election, according to BBC. 
 
Galloway said he will not be intimidated. "Not even death will intimidate me," Galloway said, accusing the counter-terror police of aiming to gain access to our communications, the Telegraph reported.

Galloway said he traveled to the UK to give a speech in London at an event due to be attended by the Chinese Ambassador, and the detain had forced him to miss the event, the Independent reported. 

Galloway, in earlier interviews with Global Times, had criticized the UK's foreign policy, saying it will be isolated if follows the US. He also said the UK's finger-pointing at Hong Kong affairs revealed an imperialist mindset. The veteran British politician was a presenter with Russia Today until 2022 and had previously shared with Global Times his thoughts on Ukraine crisis and Europe's situation.