Former Conservative Party politician Andrew Bridgen has formally begun a libel action against Matt Hancock following a row over a tweet. After Mr Bridgen tweeted that the Covid-19 vaccination programme was "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust", the former health secretary described his comments as "disgusting and dangerous antisemitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories".
At an event in Westminster on Wednesday, held to announce Mr Bridgen's defection to the Reclaim Party, the North West Leicestershire MP said he has submitted a defamation claim against Mr Hancock to the High Court. He said: "The basis of my claim is that Mr Hancock's accusation of antisemitism against me is a false slur to deliberately try and shut down valid concerns raised by me on behalf of my constituents and thousands of others around the world about the safety and efficacy of the experimental Covid-19 injections.
"This issue is of international importance because every elected representative should be allowed to challenge Government policy without being shut down by malicious slurs."
Mr Bridgen said he will be launching a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the legal action, which has so far been supported by Reclaim The Media, an offshoot of the Reclaim Party. A spokesman for Mr Hancock said: "Matt will defend this absurd action, which is a pathetic publicity stunt.
"The claim has no credible basis and, when Matt wins the case, he will also seek to recover all costs. Vaccines save lives, and Matt will always defend science and progress against unfounded conspiracy theories that put people's health at risk."
Mr Bridgen also resisted calls for a by-election after announcing his defection to the Reclaim Party. The former Conservative MP said he expected a general election within 12 months and did not want to put his constituents through two trips to the polling station in a year.
Speaking at an event in Westminster to announce his defection to Reclaim, the party led by actor Laurence Fox, Mr Bridgen said: “I wouldn’t want to put my constituents through the rigours of having two general elections in 12 months. They don’t tend to like it very much.”
The North West Leicestershire MP has faced calls to stand down and trigger a by-election since his move to become Reclaim’s first MP was announced on Tuesday.
