Jacob Rees-Mogg has apologised to a doctor after likening him to a disgraced anti-vaxxer who was widely blamed for the scare over the MMR jab.
The Commons leader was forced to apologise after he was criticised by England’s chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies for comparing Dr David Nicholl to Andrew Wakefield on Thursday.
He said in a statement: “I apologise to Dr Nicholl for the comparison with Dr Wakefield.
“I have the utmost respect for all of the country’s hardworking medical professionals and the work they do in caring for the people of this country.
“The government is working closely with the NHS, industry and distributors to help ensure the supply of medicine and medical products remains uninterrupted once we leave the EU on 31 October, whatever the circumstances.”
Dr Nicholl, a consultant neurologist with Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, has spoken out as a whistleblower about the government’s inability to stockpile certain drugs.
The row began when Dr Nicholl called LBC radio and asked the Commons leader what mortality rate he would accept if the UK were to leave the EU without a deal.
Mr Rees-Mogg told him: “I think this is the worst excess of Project Fear and I’m surprised that a doctor in your position would be fearmongering in this way on public radio.”
Then on Thursday during a Commons business statement, Mr Rees-Mogg compared the doctor with Mr Wakefield, who in 1998 produced rubbished research over the MMR jab’s non-existent link to autism.
Dame Sally wrote on Thursday that she felt “compelled to express my sincere disappointment in the disrespectful way you spoke to and about Dr David Nicholl”.
She added: “Comparing an established medical expert to a man who was struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council, and described by them as ‘dishonest, irresponsible and showed callous disregard for the distress and pain of children’ is going too far and is frankly unacceptable.”
Dr Nicholl said Mr Rees-Mogg had “defamed” him, adding: “I think he should apologise in parliament.”
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments were “irresponsible”, while Liberal Democrat MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said they were “absolutely disgusting”.
A Number 10 source said Mr Johnson did not endorse Mr Rees-Mogg’s view.
Press Association contributed to this report.
