Whip removed from Tory MP over vaccine ‘Holocaust’ claim
A VETERAN Tory MP has had the whip removed for comparing the Covid vaccine rollout to the Holocaust.
Andrew Bridgen had shared a link to an article regarding vaccines on Twitter and told his followers: ‘As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.’
The Tory Whip’s Office said he had ‘crossed a line’ and the whip would be suspended pending an investigation.
Rishi Sunak used Prime Minister’s Questions to ‘completely condemn’ the remarks in the ‘strongest possible terms’. He said: ‘It is utterly unacceptable to make linkages and use language like that.
‘I am determined that the scourge of anti-Semitism is eradicated. It has absolutely no place in our society.’
Fellow Tories said Mr Bridgen could have ‘blood on his hands’ if his comments led to Britons turning down life-saving vaccines.
Chief Whip Simon Hart said in a statement: ‘Andrew Bridgen has crossed a line, causing great offence in the process.
‘As a nation, we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme. The vaccine is the best defence against Covid that we have. ‘Misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives. I am therefore removing the whip from Andrew Bridgen with immediate effect, pending a formal investigation.’ The decision came on the same day the MP for North West Leicestershire began his suspension from the Commons after the parliamentary watchdog concluded he had a ‘careless and cavalier’ attitude to the code of conduct on lobbying.