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Labour MP’s vaccine fake news backfires

Oh dear. It’s not been a good weekend on vaccine news for the New York Times or the Labour party. The one time paper of record ran a misleading report claiming the UK planned to give Britons a dangerous cocktail of Covid vaccines. Despite that claim being debunked, it wasn’t enough to stop a Labour MP from sharing similar comments.

Now there is another incident to add to the list. The self-titled shadow ‘cabinet’ minister for mental health Dr Rosena Allin-Khan set the cat among the pigeons late on Saturday night with a series of extraordinary tweets. The Labour MP – who is a trained doctor – took to social media to announce that she had heard rumours that the vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi had managed to fast track the vaccine queue – with he and his family vaccinated Wandsworth. Allin-Khan helpfully ‘@-ed’ Zahawi in the tweet.

Rosena22.png

It wasn’t long before the Labour MP began to get cold feet – stating that people ought not to pile on the minister over the unsubstantiated rumour that she herself had started.

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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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