A hoax video has been posted on YouTube claiming that George Galloway described the death of Osama bin Laden as illegitimate.

The video, based on old footage about a different matter, was posted this morning and circulated around the internet and on Twitter.

A spokesman for the former MP said they were urgently contacting YouTube to have it removed and that the issue was in the hands of Mr Galloway’s lawyers.

He said: “It is not the first time to we have had a problem with fabrications on YouTube but it is particularly damaging in the middle of an election campaign."

• "It follows from this that the article "George Galloway: Bin Laden killing 'illegitimate'" posted on thejc.com on May 2 was inaccurate. That article, based on the hoax video, mistakenly reported that George Galloway had described Bin Laden's killing as 'illegitimate'.