Reform UK has come under fire for allowing a conspiracy theorist to peddle ‘extremism’ claims on stage.
The party, which is holding its party conference in Birmingham, has been criticised for allowing a controversial cardiologist, Dr Aseem Malhotra, to address the crowd.
Speaking before Nigel Farage, Dr Malhotra ranted about the pharmaceutical industry, and King Charles’s and Princess of Wales’s health.
He said: ‘It’s highly likely that the Covid vaccines have been a factor, a significant factor, in the cancer of members of the royal family.’
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His claims were met with gasps in the room, Metro’s politics correspondent Craig Munro reported from the conference.
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Dr Malhotra, who is one of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s health advisers in the US, also parroted claims over alleged dangers of the mRNA vaccines, saying that it ‘may be a risk factor for cancer.’
He claimed that ‘many other doctors feel the same way.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded to his speech, calling it ‘dangerous extremism.’
He said: ‘When we are seeing falling numbers of parents getting their children vaccinated, and a resurgence of disease we had previously eradicated, it is shockingly irresponsible for Nigel Farage to give a platform to these poisonous lies.
‘Farage should apologise and sever all ties with this dangerous extremism.’
Other medics have called out Dr Malhotra for his ‘meaningless pseudoscience.’
Professor Brian Ferguson, a professor of viral immunology at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘There is no credible evidence that these vaccines disrupt tumour suppressors or drive any kind of process (biochemical or otherwise) that results in cancer.
‘It is particularly crass to try to link this pseudoscience to the unfortunate incidents of cancer in the royal family and is reminiscent of the ‘died suddenly’ trope which attempted and ultimately failed to link the death of any young person to their vaccination status.
‘This kind of outlandish conspiracy theory only serves to undermine the credibility of those spreading it.’
Prof Ferguson continued: ‘There are repetitions of often used anti-vax tropes that have been extensively disproven.
‘There are numerous, high quality studies that prove the Covid vaccines, including mRNA vaccines, saved millions of lives.
‘Evidence that mRNA vaccines have done more harm than good just does not exist and claims that they did do not stand up to scrutiny.’
Metro has approached Kensington Palace for a comment.
A spokesperson for Reform UK said: ‘Dr Aseem Malhotra is a guest speaker with his own opinions who has an advisory role in the US government. Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech.’
Kennedy Jr, a vocal opponent of vaccinations, has been accused of undermining the US health programmes with his comments.
He has previously described the Covid vaccination as the ‘most deadly in history’ and repeated debunked claims linking jabs and autism.
Kennedy Jr has also sent shockwaves in the US after leaving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in turmoil after sacking leading figures.
Yesterday, the Reform leader, Farage, was heckled during his speech.
He retorted by shouting ‘boring, boring,’ which he also yelled while being interrupted during the general election campaigning.
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