By Jack Watson & Roger Watson
Andrew Bridgen, until recently a Conservative MP, had been in Parliament for over a decade and, while no stranger to controversy throughout his political career, had worked hard for the Tories, taking his North West Leicestershire constituency back from the Labour Party. He appeared regularly on TalkTV being interviewed by Mike Graham and Kevin O’Sullivan and, in common with these anchor men and their leading anchor woman Julia Hartley-Brewer, was critical of the lockdown policies during 2020 – 2021. Bridgen, mainly a former businessman, was concerned about the deleterious effects on businesses and the economy; effects which we are all reaping now in terms of high inflation and the higher cost of commodities. He is no longer a Conservative Party member; his defenestration preceded by losing the Tory whip and having a period of suspension from Parliament. He also became a pariah on TalkTV, with both Graham and O’Sullivan throwing him under the media bus on their shows; a punishment from which few return.
Bridgen’s crime was that he became one of the most vocal critics of the Covid vaccines. Politically, this was a mistake as it just put a big target on his back. The vaccine zealots screamed for his cancellation, and it duly happened. Using the dirtiest trick of accusing him of anti-semitism for ‘comparing the Covid vaccines to the Holocaust’ and appearing to stage a walkout at least once when he addressed Parliament, it worked. He was permanently expelled from the party on 12 April
The antisemitic claim was fatuous and relates to what he stated as follows:
“We know the ‘vaccines’ are causing serious harm and now it’s becoming increasingly clear how they are doing it. No wonder so many people have been ill since vaccination. As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”
He was restating a line from another person, these were not his words, he did not compare it to the Holocaust himself and the cardiologist had not said that it was worse than the Holocaust, he was merely referring to the alleged ‘crime’ of the vaccine rollout. Moreover, he was subsequently defended by a Jewish cardiologist‘. Mind you, the complaint of antisemitism was pushed by none other than Matt Hancock whose relationship with the truth is tenuous to say the least. Bridgen threatened to sue Hancock and that shut him up; but the stain of antisemitism is, essentially, indelible.
It is worth remembering a few facts about Andrew Bridgen which are relevant to the vaccine debate. He has a background in biological sciences having graduated from Nottingham University with a degree in genetics. He was a willing recipient of two doses of the Astrazeneca Covid vaccine and, consequently, suffered a vaccine harm from which he is far from recovered. You will, of course, find no reference to that in the mainstream media—it does not fit the “95% effective, 100% safe” mantra they are obliged to recite with respect to Covid vaccines.
But one of us (RW) has met him and heard him refer to this. Comparing his appearance prior to and post-vaccination, it is clear that he is not well. This did not lead him to campaign about the Covid vaccines and he remains adamant that he is not an ‘anti-vaxxer’ (neither are your correspondents). As a cursory search of Hansard shows, especially in the early days when he began speaking out towards the end of 2022, he was merely raising concerns on behalf of his constituents, some of whom had suffered vaccine damage. This led others with concerns, not derived from conspiracy theories, but from the publicly available data on Covid vaccine harms to provide him with information which he felt he simply could not ignore.
It is also worth noting that by the time Andrew Bridgen was raising concerns, initially about the Astrazeneca vaccine, that the UK had already decided to stop ordering it in August 2022, despite the fact that it is still reckoned to have been both safe and effective. Its withdrawal and side effects have been posted by the British Heart Foundation and, within the past week, the BMJ reports that “Dozens of patients and families are launching legal action against AstraZeneca over a rare side effect of its covid-19 vaccine.”
While we know why Bridgen has been expelled from the Conservative Party—the Covid narrative must not be questioned with impunity—this is a simple matter of free speech. Bridgen, the subject of copious ‘fact checks’ is not making stuff up. He is expressing legitimate concerns given to him by constituents, experts and lobbyists who are concerned about the continued vaccine rollout, especially as this now solely relies on mRNA vaccines known to be associated with cardiomyopathy. That is a fact that requires no checking. Inevitably when asked to comment on this, the usual suspects refer to this as ‘mild’ and ‘short-lived’, which makes it sound like it may almost be fun. They ignore the fact that people with cardiomyopathy are advised to abstain from exercise for 3-6 months. At least, this is the advice given to people who suffer cardiomyopathy following Covid-19 infection; presumably the same applies to Covid vaccine induced cardiomyopathy.
Bridgen, in common with many such as the members of HART (Health Advisory and Recovery Team) who are genuine experts in their fields, are concerned about extending the vaccine rollout to very young children on both ethical and medical grounds. He discussed this in an interview with Neil Oliver on GB News. There are copious reasons, apart from the fact that very young children and babies do not need a Covid vaccine, such is their very low level of risk, but the side effects may be more harmful to them and outweigh any benefits of being vaccinated.
On his expulsion from the Conservative Party, Andrew Bridgen tweeted: “My expulsion from the Conservative Party under false pretences only confirms the toxic culture which plagues our political system.” It is the view of your correspondents that he now has them off his back and we hope that he keeps doing what he is doing: speaking up on behalf of those people who have died or been injured by the Covid vaccines. Naturally, his political career is in jeopardy and Richard Tice, of Reform UK, gave him short shrift when he enquired about membership. The next general election, if he is not pressured into standing down as an MP before then, will probably mean that this is the last we will see of Andrew Bridgen in the House of Commons. Politics has, yet again, become much less interesting.
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
Jack Watson is a 14-year-old schoolboy, who has a Substack about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe to it here.
