‘In the Conservative Party I was a prisoner, but now I have Reclaimed my freedom’

ANDREW Bridgen has claimed “all (he) ever did was set the truth free”, as he laid out his reasons for joining Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party.

Speaking at a press conference hosted by Reclaim, Mr Bridgen said he would be “taking on the might of the Conservative Party”.

The MP also confirmed he would be suing the former Health Secretary,Matt Hancock, for defamation.

At yesterday’s press conference, Mr Bridgen said he had submitted a defamation claim to the Royal Courts of Justice on the basis that Mr Hancock’s claims of antiSemitism by Mr Bridgen following his Holocaust tweet was a “false slur” to deliberately try to shut down “valid concerns he raised over the experimental Covid vaccines”.

The MP added he would be launching a crowdfunder appeal to raise money for the legal case.

He said any excess funds not used would be donated to charities for those “who have suffered vaccine harms or vaccine bereavements”.

A spokesman for Mr Hancock said: “Matt will defend this absurd action, which is a pathetic publicity stunt. The claim has no credible basis and when Matt wins the case, he will also seek to recover all costs.

“Vaccines save lives, and Matt will always defend science and progress against unfounded conspiracy theories that put people’s health at risk.”

Mr Bridgen said: “I believe that we must always do what is right to ensure a better future for ourselves, our children and wider society.

“Unfortunately, the right thing is seldom the easy thing to do.

“Taking on the might of the Conservative party, Parliament at large and the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, has not been easy, but it is right.

“As John F Kennedy once said, ‘We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard’.

“The freedoms our forebears fought so hard for are not the property of this generation, or this Parliament’s, to give away.

“This why I have fought so hard to protect and preserve our long history of liberty, freedom of thought and speech, and our economic prosperity.

“Much controversy has surrounded my decision to stand up and be counted, to speak out against the harms that have been wrought upon so many of my constituents and fellow countrymen.

“There were many in Parliament who said I should shut up and keep my head down. Lord knows they offered me enough incentives to do so.

“However, it is my firm belief that this would be an act of capitulation; a betrayal of the people who elected me. There is no price high enough for which I would be willing to back

down. It is about life, death, injury and the sort of society we wish to bequeath to the next generation.

“We have won in a number of cases, such as that of Dr Stephen Wright, whose death was ruled as natural causes until a coroner’s court, just over a week ago, overruled this and corrected the death certificate to reflect the true cause: complications arising from the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“I am greatly saddened by the negligence which led to his tragedy, which left Stephen’s wife, Charlotte, a widow, struggling to survive, reliant on food banks to feed her children.

“This was entirely avoidable, and we must ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

“We must have more scrutiny of medical treatments before we administer to the general population.

“People must not be coerced into taking medication which they do not require and which may do them great harm.

“Our compromised regulators must be reformed. They are no longer impartial and they, too, have abdicated their duty to protect the people.

“Unfortunately, many of my Parliamentary colleagues are reluctant to publicly confront the lessons which should have been learnt over the last few years.

I have now reached the sad conclusion the necessary changes cannot be achieved from inside the Conservative Party.

“Our current leadership is misguided and out of touch with the people and their concerns and their aspirations.

“It is as if our Parliament is now actually serving another master. It is certainly not serving the people of this country.

“Parliament has abdicated its duty to the electorate. It has become a uniparty. Dissent is now not tolerated, and there has been no real opposition for some time.

“It is no longer the politics of right and left, it is now the politics of right and wrong.

“The truth is like a lion. I don’t need to defend it. It can look after itself. All I ever did was set it free.

“But at the top of all the parties, the rot is complete. To even broach the subject of vaccine harms or excess deaths is seen as an anathema. This is deeply out of touch with the nation.

“I want to be in a party which champions science over dogma; public interest over vested interests. Hope over fear. Truth over lies. Freedom over subservience.

“In the Conservative Party I was a prisoner, but now I have Reclaimed my freedom. Freedom: To think. To speak. To represent the great people of this great country.

“Now we need to reclaim our democracy.”