LONDON — Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has been expelled from the party after he compared coronavirus vaccines to the Holocaust.
Bridgen’s expulsion, which comes three months after he was stripped of the Conservative whip in the Commons, was first reported by the Sun newspaper.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said that Bridgen “was expelled from the Conservative Party on 12th April following the recommendation of a disciplinary panel.”
“He has 28 days from this date to appeal,” the spokesperson added.
In a now-deleted tweet posted in January, Bridgen shared a link to a vaccine-related article on the far-right blog ZeroHedge and said: “As one consultant cardiologist said to me this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust.” Chief Whip Simon Hart promptly removed the Tory whip.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led condemnation of the remarks, branding them “utterly unacceptable.”
The MP has been increasingly critical of the COVID-19 vaccine in recent months, although his claims have been repeatedly pulled up by fact-checking organizations.
