Draft:Andrew Bridgen

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Bridgen's 2017 portrait.
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Andrew James Brigden[1] Bridgen (1964–) is a British right-wing politician, and a prominent proponent of anti-vax conspiracy theories. The Member of Parliament (until 2024) for North-West Leicestershire, Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party for referring to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine as a "crime against humanity" that would be comparable to the Holocaust. Not one to be deterred by this, he joined Laurence Fox's pathetic "Reclaim Party",[2] only to resign six months later. He is currently an Independent.

Views[edit]

Bridgen was a supporter of Brexit,[3] and an opponent of Theresa May's half-baked Brexit deal. Bridgen claimed that leaving the EU without a deal was the "best option" for the UK.[4] He was also critical of David Cameron during his tenure, and repeatedly advocated for Cameron's removal.[5][6] He even tried to remove Cameron from office himself on at least one occasion, although sadly he was unsuccessful.[7]

Bridgen was the subject of a minor controversy in 2017 due to remarks he made about a memorial to gay men who were executed in the UK when sodomy was illegal. He attacked the memorial, calling it "totally inappropriate" and saying he was losing faith in the National Trust, who had erected the memorial.[8] He has also expressed Islamophobic sentiments, saying that he feels uncomfortable when interacting with women in burkas.[9]

Despite his public reputation as a crank, Bridgen actually holds several reasonable positions. He was among the 274 MPs who voted to recognise Palestine as a state in 2014, although his comments about the "Jewish lobby" led to accusations of being anti-Semitic.[10] Bridgen has also called for an end to the criminal prosecution of people who fail to pay the TV licence feeWikipedia,[11] and was the leader of the Tory rebel faction that opposed David Cameron's undemocratic attempts to intervene in the Syrian Civil War without asking Parliament.[12] Following Boris Johnson's egregious involvement in the PartygateWikipedia scandal, Bridgen was one of the Conservative MPs who wanted him removed.[13] Alas, he is mainly known for his crankery and stupidity surrounding...

COVID-19 and vaccines[edit]

Since the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridgen was known as an opponent of the government's lockdown policies and attempts to contain the spread of the virus. As Tory MPs in Parliament began raising concerns over whether the COVID vaccine might cause serious harm to patients (spoiler: it doesn't[14][15][16]), Bridgen peddled anti-vax talking points about "natural immunity" to COVID and promoted notorious crank Aseem Malhotra's claim that "up to 90% of adverse vaccine reactions are not even being reported".[17] He also baselessly accused the British Heart Foundation of covering up evidence linking vaccines to heart problems, dismissing the evidence that the COVID vaccine saves lives as "sponsored by vested interests".[6] Given his prior comments about the "Jewish lobby", we can only guess who these "vested interests" are.

Bridgen's vaccine denialism reached its peak in early 2023 when he posted to social media that a consultant cardiologist (presumably Malhotra) had told him that the continued rollout of the vaccine was "the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust". The whip was removed from Bridgen within three hours and he was expelled from the party.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Brexiteer MP left fuming over outrageous Christmas card gaffe, Daily Express, 12 Dec 2023
  2. ↑ Andrew Bridgen becomes first Reclaim MP after expulsion from Tories, The Guardian, 10 May 2023
  3. ↑ Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn’t and who is still on the fence?, The Spectator, 16 Feb 2016
  4. ↑ Brexit: Theresa May ponders fourth bid to pass deal, BBC News, 30 March 2019
  5. ↑ Senior Tory MP Andrew Bridgen says David Cameron is 'finished' as party leader, The Daily Telegraph, 29 May 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The story of how anti-vax misinformation consumed a sitting MP, Politics UK, 12 Jan 2023
  7. ↑ Tory MP Bridgen drops bid to oust Cameron, BBC News, 7 April 2014
  8. ↑ Tory MP and Daily Mail launch sickening attack on memorial for executed gay men, Pink News, 20 Sept 2017
  9. ↑ Tory MP Andrew Bridgen Says Speaking To A Woman In A Burka Makes Him Feel 'Uncomfortable', Huffington Post, 7 Aug 2018
  10. ↑ Parliament votes to recognise Palestinian state, Jewish Chronicle, October 2014
  11. ↑ Minister outlines plan to decriminalise non-payment of TV licence fee, The Guardian, 9 Sept 2014
  12. ↑ 81 Tory MPs Write To David Cameron To Demand Vote On Arming Syrian Rebels, Huffington Post, 6 June 2013
  13. ↑ Brexiteer becomes fifth Tory MP this week to submit Boris Johnson no confidence letter, The Telegraph, 13 Jan 2022
  14. ↑ Bust Myths and Learn the Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines, Center for Disease Control, 27 September 2023
  15. ↑ COVID-19 vaccines side effects and safety, National Health Service
  16. ↑ Study reveals extent of Covid vaccine side-effects, BBC, 4 February 2021
  17. ↑ Covid-19 Vaccines: Safety (debated on Monday 24 October 2022), Hansard, 24 October 2022


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