Andrew Bridgen has had the Conservative Party whip removed after having âcrossed a lineâ in his criticism of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The North West Leicestershire MP has been increasingly vocal in remarks questioning the coronavirus vaccine.
On Wednesday he tweeted an article on vaccines, adding: âAs one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.â
Chief whip Simon Hart said: âAndrew Bridgen has crossed a line, causing great offence in the process.
âAs a nation, we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme. The vaccine is the best defence against Covid that we have.
âMisinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives. I am therefore removing the whip from Andrew Bridgen with immediate effect, pending a formal investigation.â
“Blood on his hands”
Tory MP Michael Fabricant welcomed the decision, adding that his former colleague will have âblood on his handsâ if his comments stop people public getting vaccinated.
âIf this deters people from being vaccinated and causes deaths as a direct consequence, heâll have blood on his hands. His tweets are wholly irresponsible.â
Earlier, former Cabinet minister Simon Clarke had condemned Mr Bridgenâs tweet referring to the Holocaust, calling it âdisgracefulâ.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, called the comments âhighly irresponsible and wholly inappropriateâ.
Mr Bridgen is currently suspended from the Commons after he was found to have displayed a âvery cavalierâ attitude to the rules in a series of lobbying breaches.
Next election
MPs agreed at the start of the week to suspend Mr Bridgen for five sitting days from Tuesday.
Labour MP Christian Wakeford, formerly a Conservative, had also hit out at the North West Leicestershire MP over his comments.
Reacting to the removal of the whip, he said: âAbout time but it should have gone well before this.â
Lord Mann, the Governmentâs independent adviser on antisemitism, said Mr Bridgen should be barred from standing for the Tories at the next election.
âThere is no possibility that Bridgen can be allowed to stand at the next election,â he said.
âHe cannot claim that he didnât realise the level of offence that his remarks cause.â
Tory peer Lord Pickles, the UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, said throughout the pandemic âwe saw various anti-vac groups compare themselves to victims of the Nazis; it was distasteful then and remains soâ.
âThe act of murdering millions of innocent people does not lend itself to modern comparisons, it trivialises and distorts the Holocaust,â he said.
âPeople in authority have a duty to use language responsible; Mr Bridgen has failed that test, and I welcome the removal of the Conservative whip from him.â
Sir Peter Bottomley, on Times Radio, said that anyone who is speaking about vaccines should âlearn their factsâ.
âAnyone who brings the Holocaust in is actually trespassing on dangerous ground,â the Tory MP said.
âMy advice to him is, consider what youâre saying. And donât say it.â
Mr Bridgen has been contacted for comment.
Related: Elevenses: Rishi Wonât Say