What our MPs say matters.

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Dear Friend,

What our MPs say matters. They have a responsibility to get their facts straight. When they don’t, we all suffer the consequences. Lives are put at risk, hatred can spread, and public confidence in our democracy erodes.

Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, has not lived up to that responsibility and for months has been spreading misinformation about the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. He has claimed they are not recommended for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers (they are), and that they constitute gene therapy (they do not). Mr Bridgen has been suspended from the Conservative Party for comparing the Covid vaccination programme to the Holocaust.

Andrew Bridgen put lives at risk. Please help tackle MPs’ false claims and prevent the harm they cause.
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Full Fact staff have been busy dispelling the misinformation spread by Mr Bridgen; first fact checking his vaccines claims in November—long before his suspension. We’ve had dialogue with Mr Bridgen and issued four separate correction requests to his office. We’ve also asked his constituents to do the same, and enabled them to do so via our website. Our rebuttals of his false claims have featured in the media 30 times and on 11th January, Full Fact’s CEO wrote to the then Conservative Party Chair Nadhim Zahawi. He stressed our concerns that Mr Bridgen had been allowed to make his claims for so long without consequence, and asked whether the party intended to endorse him at the next election.

Andrew Bridgen’s behaviour is shocking. Politicians’ words should not be putting lives at risk and his case is an acute example of the need for independent and diligent fact checking. By the time Mr Bridgen made his vaccines statements, our team of professional fact checkers had already spent years debunking Covid conspiracy theories, and could quickly and efficiently do the same to his false claims. It’s this ability that makes Full Fact unique in the UK and it’s our donors that make this possible. We’re grateful for all donations, but it’s regular giving that allows us to respond quickly to MPs' false claims, plan our campaigns effectively, and maximise our impact.

Please set up a regular gift today and help us stop MPs like Andrew Bridgen using their positions to spread misinformation.
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False claims from MPs of all parties will keep coming; probably from Andrew Bridgen, certainly from others. While the case of Mr Bridgen has appalled many, he is not the only MP to fail to get their facts straight. In response, Full Fact will continue to be vigilant, impartial and research-led in our pursuit of the truth; dispelling misinformation wherever and whenever it appears, and preventing the harm it causes.

Thank you,

Josey Cullen
Individual Giving Manager
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