Andrew Bridgen suspended as Tory MP over Covid vaccine comments

[super jumbe]

Andrew Bridgen has been suspended as a Conservative MP for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccination.

It comes after the North West Leicestershire MP posted a tweet that compared vaccines to the Holocaust.

Tory chief whip Simon Hart said the comments had "crossed a line" and caused great offence.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also condemned the remarks, calling the comparison "utterly unacceptable".

Mr Hart said Mr Bridgen would lose the party whip - meaning he will sit as an independent - while a formal investigation takes place.

"As a nation we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme," the chief whip added.

"The vaccine is the best defence against Covid that we have. Misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives."

The BBC has contacted Mr Bridgen for a comment.

The MP is currently serving a five-day suspension from Parliament for breaching parliamentary rules on registering financial interests.

Mr Bridgen was previously critical of policies like lockdown and vaccine passports but he praised the development of Covid vaccines, and tweeted proudly when he received his doses.

However, last autumn he began to make increasingly baseless claims including that vaccines were killing many people and that the damage was being covered up.

At first, he began highlighting some real, but rare, instances of genuine vaccine injury and misinterpreting real data to suggest these cases were more common than the research suggests.

In recent weeks, this rhetoric has increased.

Posting a link to an article on vaccines earlier, he said: "As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64236687

[super jumbe]

Wonder what misinformation was all about does any one know?

[nara]

Wonder what misinformation was all about does any one know?

Google is your friend SJ.

Anyhow, it's good to know that the thicko has now been completely kicked out of the party.

[johnnyh33]

Shame 95% of other MPs were so disinterested (or their "interests" lie elsewhere). They missed what Bridgen and many top scientists had to say coz they made themselves scarce for the debate and the chamber was practically empty.

The public gallery was overflowing though.

By the way, Google is not your friend.

[nara]

By the way, Google is not your friend.

Mine, or SJ's ?

[yalymka]

The world is changing very fast... They used to fight the fascists , but now the British and Americans are helping the fascists . And you're talking about vaccines ....

[nara]

The world is changing very fast... They used to fight the fascists , but now the British and Americans are helping the fascists . And you're talking about vaccines ...

Get a life. Please...and take your politics elsewhere.

[johnnyh33]

Why is it "good to know" the "thicko" has been completely kicked out of the party ? What's it to you, or us ? And why would you tell someone else to "take their politics elsewhere" when that's what you're talking about ?