Respect MP, George Galloway and leader of the RMT, Bob Crow, have voiced their support for Tommy Sheridan in light of Sheridan's arrest on Sunday.  Sheridan has been charged with perjury after a year long investigation carried out by the police into Sheridan's victorious civil defamation action against Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, a Sunday tabloid.  Stories alleging Sheridan's attendance at a swinger's club in Manchester resulted in Sheridan suing the newspaper and as a result of the resulting court case, during which he sacked his legal team and represented himself, he was awarded £200,000 in damages.

George Galloway and Bob Crow, both long term political allies of Tommy Sheridan, said:

“Tommy’s real crime in the eyes of News International is that he has spent his entire political life speaking truth to power. His has always been a powerful voice in defense of those who are routinely hounded by the tabloid press - i.e. trade unionists, asylum seekers, immigrants, and anyone who fails to conform to Rupert Murdoch distorted and perverse worldview. We expect vindictiveness from the Murdoch Press, but it is a scandal that so much public money and resources have been devoted to targeting Tommy Sheridan in this way

“Working people in Scotland saw through this farrago the first time round. I am confident they will do so again.”