Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said the launch of a vaccine was the ‘biggest crime against humanity’ since the Second World War genocide.
A British politician from the ruling Conservative Party has been suspended for comparing a COVID-19 vaccine to the Holocaust.
Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, said the deployment of the vaccine marked the “biggest crime against humanity” since millions of Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Confirming Bridgen’s suspension on Wednesday, Conservative leader Simon Hart said the 58-year-old had “crossed the line” and committed “major offense”.
“As a country, we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine program,” said Hart. “Vaccines are the best protection against COVID we have.”
“Vaccine misinformation harms and costs many people. Therefore, I will remove the whip from Andrew Bridgen immediately, pending a formal investigation,” Hart said.
Bridgen, a longtime critic of the COVID-19 vaccine, tweeted a link to a vaccine article on a website that published conspiracy theories and commented: “As a consultant This is the greatest crime against humanity since the Holocaust. .”
His suspension means he will sit in the House of Commons as an independent member of Congress while a formal investigation takes place.
Prime Minister Sunak criticizes ‘unacceptable’ comments
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Bridgen’s comments were “completely unacceptable”.
“I am determined that the scourge of anti-Semitism will be erased,” he said in Congress. “It has absolutely no place in our society.”
Karen Pollock, head of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the comparison between vaccines and the Holocaust was “very irresponsible and completely inappropriate”.
Bridgen later apologized but argued that his main point was valid.
He said: “It is not tactful to use the Holocaust as a reference, I apologize for that. “I deleted the offending tweet.”
However, this should not be used to distract from well-founded concerns regarding vaccines. “The article I tweeted presents the work of an Israeli-Jewish researcher.”
Prior to his suspension, Bridgen was under scrutiny for violating congressional rules on paid lobbying and claiming financial interests.
He was suspended from the House of Commons for five days for violations.
