‘Mind-boggling ignorance’: Holocaust survivor criticises Andrew Bridgen’s vaccine remarks
A Holocaust survivor has condemned a Tory MP’s “mind-boggling ignorance” after he compared the mass genocide of Jewish people during World War II to the COVID vaccine rollout.
Earlier today, Andrew Bridgen tweeted an article questioning the safety of the jabs, adding: “As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”
The prominent backbencher has now had the whip removed, meaning he is no longer a Conservative MP but will sit as an independent.
Martin Stern, a Holocaust survivor and retired immunologist, added his voice to the criticism of the remarks, which have been condemned by politicians, scientists and charities.
“People in a position of public responsibility like Andrew Bridgen owe us, the public, a debt of due diligence,” he told Sky News.
“Before they open their mouths about an issue like this, they should inform themselves, they should get expert advice.
“Andrew Bridgen has not done that, so he has failed in his duty to his constituents and to the British public.”
Andrew Bridgen MP has had the whip removed
Mr Stern, 85, was born in Holland and survived Nazi concentration camps at both Westerbork and Theresienstadt when he was a child.
After the war he moved to England to live with family and trained as a doctor.
The retired immunologist said: “I spend my life these days working with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the Holocaust Education Trust, the National Holocaust Centre and the Anne Frank Trust educating people about the Holocaust, but even among adults there is a mind-boggling degree of ignorance.
“Andrew Bridgen’s response reflects that. He wouldn’t be saying that if he had even a reasonable idea of what the Holocaust was about.”
The Holocaust is the name given to the systematic murder of six million Jewish people by the Nazi Germany regime and their allies during the Second World War.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the comments made by Mr Bridgen were “utterly unacceptable” and chief whip Simon Hart took action because the remarks “crossed a line”.
Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, said Mr Bridgen should be barred from standing for the Tories at the next election.
“There is no possibility that Bridgen can be allowed to stand at the next election,” he said.
“He cannot claim that he didn’t realise the level of offence that his remarks cause.”
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Mr Bridgen is already serving a five-day suspension from the Commons for breaching lobbying rules and suggesting the woman investigating him could be swayed with a peerage.
His comment comes about a fortnight before Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.
The MP for North West Leicestershire has continually shared anti-vaccine messaging and Labour branded Mr Sunak “weak” for not disciplining him “weeks ago”.
“To invoke the Holocaust, as he did today, is utterly shameful, but it should never have reached this point,” said party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds.
About 20 million lives were saved by the COVID vaccine in its first year, Imperial College London research published in June last year found.
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the safety and efficacy of vaccines are “tested rigorously in clinical trials” while the data is subjected to challenges by independent experts, “and undergoes painstakingly detailed regulatory review”.
“Ideological beliefs in favour or against vaccination are not science and have no role to play in making the best policy,” he added.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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