Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has launched legal action against Matt Hancock after joining actor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party.
Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party in April after claiming in January the COVID-19 vaccine was “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”.
Former health secretary Mr Hancock, who remains suspended from the Tories for appearing on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, condemned Mr Bridgen’s comments as “antisemitic” at the time.
Mr Bridgen announced on Wednesday he has now submitted a defamation claim to the High Court as he said Mr Hancock’s comments were an attempt to “shut down valid concerns expressed by me”.
He has launched a crowdfunding appeal for his legal action and said any excess funds will be donated to charities “supporting the COVID-injured and COVID-bereaved”.
Mr Hancock has denied the allegations and called Mr Bridgen’s legal action a “pathetic publicity stunt”.
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A spokesman for Mr Hancock said: “Matt will defend this absurd action, which is a pathetic publicity stunt.
“The claim has no credible basis and when Matt wins the case, he will also seek to recover all costs.
“Vaccines save lives, and Matt will always defend science and progress against unfounded conspiracy theories that put people’s health at risk.”
Mr Bridgen also announced he has joined the Reclaim Partywhich was launched by actor Laurence Fox in 2020 to promote freedom of speech after he says he was “cancelled” for “challenging the woke orthodoxy of white privilege and systemic racism”.
He will stand as a candidate for his new party in North West Leicestershire, the seat he has held since 2010, at the next general election, which Mr Bridgen predicted will be this autumn.
Mr Bridgen said he could appeal his expulsion from the Conservative Party but is not doing so because the party is “out of touch with people’s hopes and aspirations” and is introducing policies “that threaten my constituents’ freedoms”.
He said he receives “thousands of emails every week from the public” telling him how important it is to speak out against the COVID vaccine and “is stopped in the street and told how important it is to the public”.
“The difference between the public and parliament is like night and day,” he added.
“Without justice, we’ll be plunged into a time of darkness and tyranny.”
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Laurence Fox launched the Reclaim Party in 2020
The MP physically crossed the House of Commons floor on Wednesday to sit on the opposition benches, where he will sit as the Reclaim Party’s first MP.
The Lib Dems said Mr Bridgen should now call a by-election after joining the Reclaim Party.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Andrew Bridgen and his misinformation have absolutely no place in the House of Commons and now his defection to a failed fringe political party cements it.
“If Bridgen wants to sit as an MP for this party he should do the right thing – resign and call a by-election.”
