Tory MP's Facebook post flagged for Covid misinformation

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen called on prime minister Rishi Sunak to suspend mRNA covid vaccines after alleging they are "not safe, not effective and not necessary".

During Wednesday's PMQs (13 December), the MP stated that "since the rollout in the UK of the BioNTech-Pfizer mRNA vaccine, we have had almost half a million reports of adverse effects from the public", a message he later reiterated on Twitter.

Posting a snippet from his debate, Bridgen tweeted: "Almost half a million yellow card reports of adverse effects following administration of the Biotech Pfizer mRNA vaccine in the UK alone! Answers are desperately needed. #completelyunprecedented".

Facebook flagged his post with a notice urging users to ensure that they share "reliable information." It included two links to "continue sharing" or "get vaccine info."

Bridgen was displeased with the warning, prompting him to return back to Twitter, asking: "What are Facebook scared of?"

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Reacting to Bridgen's claims, health minister Maria Caulfield said he was "entitled to his view" but made clear she disagreed with him "not only in the content of his speech but the way in which he derided doctors, scientists, nurses, many of us who worked through the pandemic and saw first hand the devastation that covid caused."

Bridgen also accused the British Heart Foundation (BHF) of "covering up clear data" that the Covid vaccine can increase "inflammation of the heart arteries."

He suggested that a "very reliable" whistleblower brought it to his attention, alleging that "it is covering this up for fear that it may lose funding from the pharmaceutical industry."

"The lead of that cardiology research department has a prominent leadership role with the British Heart Foundation, and I am disappointed to say that he has sent out non-disclosure agreements to his research team to ensure that this important data never sees the light of day."

He added: "That is an absolute disgrace. Systemic failure in an over-medicated population also contributes to huge waste of British taxpayers’ money and increasing strain on the NHS."

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has since hit back at Bridgen's claims with a statement reading: "We do not recognise these claims and strongly refute all allegations made about colleagues in senior leadership roles within the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

"As a trusted provider of heart health information, we are committed to being completely independent and take great care to be accurate and transparent with all public health information.

"We would encourage those making these serious allegations to share specific, credible information with us which supports them.

"The BHF's advice on vaccines is based on rigorous scrutiny of the latest evidence, which to date shows that the benefits of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine greatly outweigh the risk of extremely rare side effects for the vast majority of people."

Indy100 reached out to Andrew Bridgen and Facebook for comment.

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