Former MP George Galloway and his wife were stopped by counter-terrorism police at Gatwick Airport.

The Workers Party of Britain (WPB) said its leader 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.

The Metropolitan Police said a man in his 70s and woman in her 40s were stopped by counter-terrorism officers under the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act, but neither were arrested and they were “allowed on their way”.

In a statement, Galloway’s party condemned what it described as “politically motivated intimidation” and said freedom of speech is lying “on the scrap heap”.

Police said the stops were made under schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

This allows an officer to stop, question, search and detain a person at a port or the border area in the UK to determine if they have engaged in hostile activity.

Those being detained can be required to provide information including passwords to devices. It is not known whether this was requested in this instance.

A Met Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that on Saturday, 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 Workers Party of Britain said it was informed Galloway and his wife had been detained at Gatwick by police on Saturday morning.

In a later statement on X it said Galloway, 71, and his 40-year-old wife had been released without charge.

It added: “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.”

Galloway was a Labour MP until 2003, before sitting 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.

The government will underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in a bid to support its suppliers as a cyber attack continues to halt production at the car maker.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the loan, from a commercial bank, would protect jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and across the UK.

The manufacturer has been forced to suspend production for weeks after being targeted by hackers at the end of August.

There have been growing concerns some suppliers, mostly small businesses, could go bust due to the prolonged shutdown. The company operates the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, employing around 150,000 people.

It is hoped the loan will give suppliers some certainty as the shutdown continues.

The government will underwrite the loan through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), a financial support mechanism aimed at helping UK companies who sell overseas.

The loan will be paid back by JLR over five years, in an effort to boost the firm’s cash reserves as it makes a “backlog of payments” to its suppliers.

No cars have been built this month, and the company has stopped placing orders with its 700 suppliers.

A parliamentary committee said some small suppliers had told them they had, at most, one week left before they ran out of cash.

The halt in operations is thought to be costing JLR itself at least £50m per week.

The manufacturer, owned by India’s Tata Motors, typically builds about 1,000 cars a day at its three factories in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood in Merseyside.

Kyle said: “Following our decisive action, this loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Today we are protecting thousands of those jobs with up to £1.5bn in additional private finance, helping them support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry.”

Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith welcomed the government’s support but said it “took too long to get there” and called on Labour to form a cyber reinsurance scheme to protect British businesses from state-backed actors.

Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney also praised the move but said the government had been “too slow to act”, adding it should also be prepared to provide a furlough scheme for affected workers if required.

Union Unite, representing thousands at JLR and in the supply chain, described the government support as an “important first step”.

“The money provided must now be used to ensure job guarantees and to also protect skills and pay in JLR and its supply chain,” said general secretary Sharon Graham.

JLR was hit by a cyber-attack on 31 August. A group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters has claimed responsibility for the hack.

It was also behind a number of high-profile attacks on retailers earlier this year, including Marks & Spencer and Co-op.

JLR workers have been told to stay home since 1 September, with no firm return date provided.

About 30,000 people are directly employed at the company’s plants.

A JLR spokesperson said: “Our teams continue to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the NCSC and law enforcement to ensure we restart in a safe and secure manner.

“The foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly underway, and we will continue to provide regular updates to our colleagues, retailers and suppliers.”