It’s the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the year today and No. 10 is keen to get off to a good start. So it is perhaps no surprise then that party officials have quickly moved to strip Andrew Bridgen of the Tory whip three hours after an offensive tweet.
The North West Leicestershire MP has raised eyebrows in recent days with his relentless attacks on Covid vaccines. However he was clearly judged to have gone too far this morning when he shared a critical article about the subject and wrote ‘As one consultant cardiologist said to me this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust.’
An outcry immediately followed. Fellow Conservative MP Simon Clarke described his claim as ‘disgraceful’ while former Tory MP Christian Wakeford said it was ‘despicable’ to make such a comparison during the month of Holocaust Memorial. He added ‘When is it enough for the Tories to withdraw the whip?’
Clearly it was enough for Chief Whip Simon Hart. Within three hours of Bridgen’s tweet he had withdrawn the whip, writing in a statement that:
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.
Bridgen is also currently serving a five day suspension from the Commons after being found to have breached rules on paid lobbying and declaring interests. He has previously called for votes of no confidence at various points in David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
At least now, as an independent MP, he can’t put a letter in calling for one in Rishi Sunak…
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