Anti-vaxxer MP Andrew Bridgen is told to pay Matt Hancock £40,000 for legal ... trends now
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Anti-vaxxer MP Andrew Bridgen has been ordered to pay Matt Hancock more than £40,000 in legal fees after an early stage of their libel war.
Mr Bridgen wants to 'clear his name' after allegedly being accused of antisemitism in a 'malicious' post made by the former Health Secretary, the High Court in London previously heard.
The MP for North West Leicestershire is bringing a libel claim against Mr Hancock over a January 2023 tweet that followed Mr Bridgen posting a comment about Covid-19 vaccines.
Following a preliminary hearing in the case earlier this month, Mr Bridgen - who was expelled by the Conservatives in April 2023 - was ordered to pay £44,300 to the MP for West Suffolk in a court order on Thursday.
At the previous hearing, a judge was told Mr Bridgen shared a link to an article 'concerning data about deaths and other adverse reactions linked to Covid vaccines' on January 11.
He stated: 'As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.'
Anti-vaxxer MP Andrew Bridgen (pictured) has been ordered to pay Matt Hancock more than £40,000 in legal fees after an early stage of their libel war
Mr Bridgen wants to 'clear his name' after allegedly being accused of antisemitism in a 'malicious' social media post by Mr Hancock (pictured)
Hours later, Mr Hancock wrote on Twitter - now known as X - that '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'.
Mr Bridgen believes 'every person reading the tweet knew it was about me', that it was 'seriously defamatory and untrue' and intended to
