Reform UK Distances Itself From Doctor’s Controversial Covid Claims at Conference
BIRMINGHAM, UK – Reform UK is facing criticism after cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra used a party conference to promote unsubstantiated claims about Covid-19 vaccines, including assertions that they could alter genes and cause more harm than the virus itself. the party has stated it does not endorse Dr. Malhotra’s views but defends his right to speak.
At the event, titled “Make Britain Healthy Again,” Dr. Malhotra also alleged the World Health association had been “captured” by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and should be replaced. He challenged the audience, asking, “Have you heard anything anti-vax or conspiracy theory so far here?”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting labelled it “shockingly irresponsible” of Reform to provide a platform for Dr. Malhotra. Streeting warned of “falling numbers of parents getting their children vaccinated, and a resurgence of disease we had previously eradicated,” and called on Nigel Farage to “apologise and sever all ties with this dangerous extremism.”
Dr. Malhotra’s claims have been widely discredited by medical professionals. Professor Brian Ferguson, professor of viral immunology at the University of Cambridge, accused him of repeating an “outlandish conspiracy theory” and stated, “There is no credible evidence that these vaccines disrupt tumour suppressors or drive any kind of process that results in cancer.” He also criticized linking the claims to the recent cancer diagnoses within the British royal family.
The NHS maintains that Covid vaccines meet all strict safety standards, and claims linking the vaccine to “turbo cancers” have previously been dismissed by academics and oncologists.
Reform UK responded to the controversy by stating Dr. Malhotra, who holds an advisory role in the US government, was a guest speaker with his own opinions.”Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech,” a party spokesman told the BBC.The King announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, while catherine, Princess of Wales, announced hers in March 2024 and entered remission in January. Neither royal has publicly specified the type of cancer they where diagnosed with.
