Andrew Bridgen has Tory whip removed after tweet comparing Covid vaccine to Holocaust

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has had the whip removed after he posted a tweet that compared the Covid vaccine roll out to the Holocaust.

Chief Whip Simon Hart said that the MP for North West Leicestershire had caused “great offence” with his comments and that there would be a formal investigation. 

Hart said in a statement this morning: "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. 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." 

In a series of tweets this morning, Bridgen said that the vaccines are "causing serious harms" and it is "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust". 

Conservative MP for Lichfield Michael Fabricant called Bridgen's tweets "wholly irresponsible".

He tweeted: "If this deters people from being vaccinated and causes deaths as a direct consequence, he’ll have blood on his hands. His tweets are wholly irresponsible."

Meanwhile, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that they would be writing to Tory party chair Nadhim Zahawi to "express our deep concern and to ask for clarification as to what action will be taken". 

They said: "For an MP to suggest that Covid vaccines are the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust is unconscionable." 

The chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, Karen Pollock, also called the comments "highly irresponible and wholly inappropriate".

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