Leicestershire MP Andrew Brigden to sue Matt Hancock for £100,000 over Covid vaccine comments

MP Andrew Bridgen has said he will sue former health secretary Matt Hancock for £100,000 over comments made about the Covid-19 vaccine.

It comes after Mr Hancock accused the MP for North West Leicestershire of sharing "anti-Semitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories" on Twitter.

Mr Bridgen had previously branded the Covid-19 vaccine rollout "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust".

Mr Hancock, who appeared on ITV's I'm a Celebrity, described Mr Bridgen's comments as "disgusting and dangerous".

At the time the MP for North West Leicestershire said he was "not racist" and would be "speaking to a legal team who will commence action" against those that had labelled him as one.

He said Mr Hancock had "three days to apologise publicly for calling me an anti-Semite and racist or he will be contacted by my legal team"

Three days have since passed from when Mr Bridgen called out Mr Hancock.

In a tweet today, Mr Bridgen confirmed legal action had been taken against Mr Hancock.

He wrote: "I can confirm that Matt Hancock had a legal letter before action from Bad Law Team on my behalf regarding defamation on Monday."

A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: "What Matt said was obviously not libellous and he stands by his comments.

"Rather than wasting his time and money on an absurd libel case he will undoubtedly lose, let's hope Bridgen does the right thing and apologises for the hurt he's caused and keeps his offensive view to himself in future."

ITV News Central has approached Mr Bridgen for comment.

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