Tory MP Andrew Bridgen loses whip over ‘dangerous’ Covid vaccine claims

Bridgen likely to be permanently cast out from party after tweet comparing immunisation to Holocaust.

The Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has lost the party whip, probably permanently, after he provoked widespread fury among colleagues and elsewhere by comparing the use of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.

The tweet from the North West Leicestershire backbencher came after weeks of him sending increasingly anti-vaccine social media posts, as well as messages to journalists, many of which openly backed conspiracy theories.

The message on Wednesday morning linked to an article from Zero Hedge, a libertarian and conspiracy theory website, which purported to show the health risks from Covid vaccines.

Bridgen wrote: “As one consultant cardiologist said to me this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust.”

The message brought immediate outrage and calls for Bridgen, an MP since 2010, to be stripped of the Conservative whip, with Labour questioning why this had not been done before, given his views on vaccines.

About two hours after Bridgen’s tweet, which was subsequently deleted, Simon Hart, the Conservative chief whip, announced that he would lose the whip.

“Andrew Bridgen has crossed a line, causing great offence in the process,” Hart said. “As a nation we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme.

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