George Galloway has been detained at Gatwick Airport under the terrorism Act.
The former MP and his wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, were “allowed on their way” after being stopped by counter terrorism officers, the Metropolitan Police said.
The couple had returned to the UK from Moscow via Abu Dhabi, reports said.
In a widely reported statement, the Met said: “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 wellbeing of the UK”.
The Workers Party of Britain leader, 71, 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.
A statement from Mr Galloway’s party shared on X said: “Our party condemns the attempt to intimidate those who seek amity rather than enmity with the rest of the world.
“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.”
Mr Galloway has previously represented seats in Glasgow, east London and Bradford in the Commons, for Labour and later the Respect Party.
He attracted anger from the public when he entered the Big Brother house in 2006.
A website was set up calculating the amount of council tax his then Bethnal Green and Bow constituents were paying while he was on the reality show.
He and Coronation Street actress Rula Lenska attracted scores of comments during a shopping task.
Mr Galloway got down on all fours pretending to be a cat, while Lenska fussed over him and let him pretend to lap milk from a saucer.
