Litvinenko inquiry: George Galloway makes odd Carlsberg quip to dismiss 'Whitehall farce'

Mayor of London hopeful George Galloway used a take on a famous advertising slogan to dismiss the findings of the British judge-led inquiry into the fatal 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. The Respect Party leader, who has also presented shows for Russian government funded-broadcaster RT, claimed Sir Robert Owen's findings constituted a "Whitehall farce".

Galloway told BBC 2's Newsnight show: "Carlsberg is probably the best lager in the world, but perhaps not. This tragedy of this foul murder has been followed by another Whitehall farce." The Scottish politician also compared the report to the 2003 Hutton Inquiry into the death of biological warfare expert David Kelly.

"Secret evidence. Closed evidence. You [host Evan Davis] said at the top of the show that the full story was now known, but it isn't because large sections of this process was closed to the public and to the media," he added. "I don't [accept the inquiry's conclusions] because I no longer believe automatically what the security services say."

But Galloway did admit Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, the men accused of lacing Litvinenko's tea with the highly radioactive substance of Polonium-210, were "prime suspects" in the former KGB-man's murder.

However, the former MP accused Newsnight of arranging a "show trial" over Vladimir Putin's involvement in the alleged assassination. "You are basically arranging a show trial here of the president of a country with which we have to do business, apparently careless of what the implications of it will be," Galloway claimed.

The comments came after Interpol notices and European arrest warrants were issued for the detention of Lugovoi and Kovtun. The Treasury also revealed that they will impose asset freezes on the suspects.

The Russian ambassador in London was also summoned by the British government after the publication of Owen's report, while a spokeswoman for Moscow's foreign minister claimed the inquiry's findings were an attempt to "demonise Russia and its leadership".