Tory Andrew Pridgen loses whip over ‘serious’ Covid vaccine claims | Tories

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Conservative MP Andrew Pridgen lost the party whip after comparing the use of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust, the latest in a series of recent anti-vaccine statements he has made.

In a graphic tweet from Zero Hedge, a libertarian and conspiracy theorist website, which purports to show the health risks from Covid vaccines, Pridgen wrote: “As a consultant cardiologist told me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”

The tweet is among a series of social media messages, and direct messages to journalists, sent out by the North West Leicestershire MP in recent weeks, arguing that Covid vaccines seriously harm health.

Simon Hart, the Conservative Party’s chief whip, said: “Andrew Pridgen crossed the line, causing great offense in the process. As a nation we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme.

“A vaccine is our best defense against Covid. Vaccine misinformation is causing harm and costing lives. So I am removing the whip from Andrew Pridgen with immediate effect, pending a formal investigation.”

On Tuesday, anti-vaccine protesters at Westminster Underground station unfurled a banner reading: “Thank you Andrew Pridgen”.

Daisy Cooper, a spokeswoman for the healthy Liberal Democrats, said: “This is really disgusting.

This is dangerous misinformation that should not be told by a Member of Parliament. Wild conspiracy theories and incredibly offensive comparisons to the Holocaust have no place in British society, let alone in Parliament. Andrew Pridgen must apologize for this disgusting remark.”

Christian Wakeford, the Labor MP for Bury South, who was a former Conservative, tweeted: “Fake news and vaccine scares are bad enough but calling out the Holocaust during Holocaust Remembrance Month is despicable. When will it be enough for the Tories to pull the whip?”

Pridgen, an MP since 2010, is serving a five-day suspension from the House of Commons for a separate case after he was found to have breached the rules on paid lobbying and declaration of interests.

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Pridgen was found to have repeatedly breached the MPs’ Code of Conduct by an inter-party committee, which upheld the findings of Catherine Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He was unsuccessful in an attempt to overturn the recommendation in December, and parliament approved a motion on Monday.

Bridgen has been contacted for comment.

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