Andrew Bridgen expelled from Tories for comparing Covid-19 vaccines to Holocaust
A Conservative MP has been ousted from the party after he compared Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust.
Andrew Bridgen was also found to have breached lobbying rules.
A Tory Party spokesman said: ‘Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party on April 12 following the recommendation of a disciplinary panel.
‘He has 28 days from this date to appeal.’
But Mr Bridgen, who represents North West Leicestershire, says he still intends to stand at the next general election and claims he has been ousted from the party under ‘false pretences’.
Speaking in January, Mr Bridgen claimed Covid-19 vaccines were ‘causing serious harms’ and that the vaccination programme was ‘the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust’.
He lost the party whip for those comments shortly afterwards, with Tory chief whip Simon Hart saying he had ‘crossed a line, causing great offence in the process’.
In January prime minister Rishi Sunak said he ‘completely condemns those types of comments in the strongest possible terms’.
Research from Imperial College London published in June last year suggested around 20 million lives were saved by the coronavirus vaccine in its first year.
In a statement following the verdict Mr Bridgen said: ‘My expulsion from the Conservative Party under false pretences only confirms the culture of corruption, collusion and cover-ups which plagues our political system.
‘I have been a vocal critic of the vaccine rollout and the party have been sure to make an example of me.
‘I am grateful for my newfound freedom and will continue to fight for justice for all those harmed, injured and bereaved due to governmental incompetence.
‘I will continue to serve my constituents as I was elected to do and intend to stand again at the next election.’
His expulsion from the Tory Party means he will now serve his constituency as an independent MP.
He was also suspended from the party for five days after breaking the MPs’ code of conduct banning lobbying.
Mr Bridgen was found to have committed a series of breaches, including an ‘unacceptable attack upon the integrity’ of then standards commissioner Kathryn Stone when he suggested she could be swayed with a peerage.
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