Matt Hancock and Andrew Bridgen Engage in Legal Battle in High Court Over Allegedly Defamatory Post

March 12, 2025 TruthUSA

The former health secretary attempted for a second time to have a libel claim brought by the ex-MP struck out before trial, following a social media post on vaccines.

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock resumed his high court battle against his one-time Conservative colleague on Wednesday, attempting for a second time to have the libel case brought by ex-MP Andrew Bridgen thrown out.

Hancock’s barrister argued that Bridgen, the former MP for North West Leicestershire, has “no real prospect of succeeding” in his claim against Hancock for defamation over a post made in January 2023 on X, then known as Twitter.

The former Cabinet minister is being sued for reputational damage by Bridgen, an outspoken critic of the COVID-19 vaccines who was expelled from the Conservative Party because of his statements on the jabs.

The allegedly defamatory post was made after Bridgen shared a link to an article concerning data about deaths and other adverse reactions suspected of being caused by the vaccines, commenting, “As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”

Around four hours later, Hancock shared a video post of him asking a question in the House of Commons, captioned, “The disgusting and dangerous antisemitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories spouted by a sitting MP this morning are unacceptable and have absolutely no place in our society.”

The then-health secretary had made the same comment in his question to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but remarks in the Chamber are protected by parliamentary privilege.

Previous Failed Attempt

Hancock unsuccessfully asked a judge to throw out the case last year, failing in his argument that he had not libelled Bridgen because the Twitter post did not name him. Mrs. Justice Collins Rice ruled that the post was a case of “reference innuendo” and that the hypothetical ordinary person familiar with the issues would understand that Hancock was referring to Bridgen.

‘Costs Pressure’

Barrister Christopher Newman, for Bridgen, said in written submissions that Hancock’s bid is “hopeless” and that his client has “a self-evidently strong case” as to harm caused by the post.

He said: “The court will be invited to dismiss the application, and certify it as totally without merit.

“It can only have been made tactically to put costs pressure on Mr. Bridgen, in the hope that Mr. Bridgen can be bullied by the risk of a contested hearing into withdrawing his claim before Mr. Hancock has to admit liability.

“In summary, the application can be seen to be a desperate last throw of the dice by a defendant with no good defence.”

The skeleton argument points to the use of the word “since” in Bridgen’s post as evidence that he was in no way attempting to trivialize the Holocaust, which Newman said means that Hancock’s argument that he honestly believes the 17-word post was anti-Semitic in character must fail.

Bridgen’s submission points to the fact that Hancock has refused to delete the post, which the judge has already agreed is “defamatory under the common law meaning.” Bridgen deleted his post in which he referenced the cardiologist making the comparison to the Holocaust and has apologized to anyone who felt offended.

In a ruling last June, Collins Rice found Hancock’s post was not “definitively condemning the MP as an individual” and that the majority of the publication was an “expression of opinion.”

He then briefly joined actor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party, before leaving to sit as an independent MP until he was defeated at the last general election, where he finished in second to last place and lost his deposit.

Lost Deposit

Bridgen has told The Epoch Times he does not accept the election result was genuine as it does not match the positive response he received from constituents throughout the campaign.

The former MP received just 1,568 votes, placing him sixth out of seven candidates, despite having increased his majority in three successive general elections since taking the seat for the Tories in 2010. Local media described the scale of his defeat as “surprising.”

Although Bridgen received condemnation from some in the Jewish community for his Twitter post, this was not universal. In an open letter to the then-prime minister, Jewish scientists from around the world called on Sunak to withdraw claims that Bridgen was guilty of making anti-Semitic comments.

The group, which included epidemiology expert and former adviser to the Israeli Healthcare Public Committee, Dr. Ifat Abadi-Korek, claimed that branding Bridgen as anti-Semitic “seized upon an opportunity” to criticize him for questioning vaccine safety and efficacy and said that such criticism was a threat to free speech.

“Aside from the fact that Mr. Bridgen was clearly reporting the words of someone else, the word ‘since’ does not in any case imply equivalence to the events of the Holocaust; for that and other reasons, the tweet is not anti-Semitic,” the scientists wrote.

“It seems that you and others have seized upon the opportunity to raise the issue of antisemitism in order to limit the free speech of those who raise legitimate concerns about the efficacy and safety of these Covid vaccines.

“Weaponization of the important issue of antisemitism for these purposes is particularly objectionable and disrespectful towards its victims,” they continued, adding that in their view, the vaccine rollout “IS the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”

Bridgen initially supported the rollout of the vaccines and took two doses of the AstraZeneca jab, which he has said damaged his health.

He told The Epoch Times that he knows of other MPs and former MPs who told him privately that they believe they or their loved ones had also been harmed by the vaccines, but that they did not wish to “take on big pharma” by speaking out.

A judgment on whether or not the case will proceed to a full trial will be handed down in due course.

PA Media contributed to this report.

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