MPs from across the House of Commons on Thursday agreed that the excess death rate is a concern that requires further investigation, in a debate which heard of the possible link between COVID-19 vaccines and the high number of people dying unexpectedly.
Just 15 MPs attended, in contrast to a packed public gallery, with the deputy speaker threatening to throw out members of the public after they cheered and applauded independent MP Andrew Bridgen, who called for the “immediate suspension” of the mRNA COVID-19 jabs.
Mr. Bridgen found support from both sides of the House, including from Labour’s Graham Stringer, who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pandemic Response and Recovery, as well as from some of his former colleagues in the Conservative Party.
Causes of excess deaths are “complex,” he said, but claimed “the novel and untested treatment described as a COVID vaccine is a large part of the problem,” and accused MPs of “groupthink” in their refusal to question the official narrative that the jabs have saved many more lives than they have taken.
“These so-called vaccines were the least effective vaccines ever. Is there anyone left under any illusion that they prevented any infections?” he asked MPs, adding that those speaking out about vaccine injury or the loss of a loved one have been “gaslit, smeared, and vilified.”
He repeated his previous claim that vaccines have caused “the greatest medical scandal in this country, in living memory and possibly ever,” drawing parallels with the thalidomide scandal of the 1960s, where the truth about the morning sickness drug causing serious birth defects did not emerge for many years.
Conservative MP Stephen Metcalfe said correlation did not always equal causation when looking at the link between excess deaths or ill health and vaccination.
Mr. Metcalfe asked, “Should not all of us be calling for further research on this issue to find out what the fundamental truth of it is, rather than listening to those who make assertions that have not been approved by scientists?”
His fellow Conservative, Danny Kruger, echoed calls for the additional data Mr. Bridgen has requested from the ONS, asking, “What are the sources for the definitive statement that the government have made, most recently in October 2023—and that, I dare say, they might make again today—about there being no evidence of a link between the excess death figures and the COVID-19 vaccines?”
‘Science and Politics Make Uneasy Bedfellows’
Mr. Stringer expressed his frustration that effective treatments for COVID-19 had not been licensed—putting vulnerable people at risk—while novel vaccines were pushed onto the public without them being made aware of the risks.“Science and politics make very uneasy bedfellows,” Mr. Stringer said, before echoing the call for more research into the excess deaths.
“Fundamentally, we need the government to be more open, and to instruct the agencies of the government—the regulator and the health service—to provide the data that we need to get to the bottom of this issue.”
Mr. Bridgen told MPs he and a number of respected scientists have repeatedly asked for “record level data”—which would reveal information about the vaccine status and dosing dates for the deceased—but the ONS had consistently refused to supply it.
‘Big Pharma’s Marketing Department’
Media and the government turned into “big pharma’s marketing department” during the vaccine rollout, he claimed, with Mr. Stringer echoing his accusations on the role played by the “fourth estate” in failing to hold the drug companies and the government to account.Mr. Bridgen said the 163 vaccine victims who have so far received the maximum payment of £120,000 from the government’s compensation scheme are “the tip of the iceberg,” and quoted from the contracts Pfizer signed with Brazil and South Africa, which state, “The long-term effects and efficacy of the vaccine are not currently known.”
Mr. Kruger said the regulatory system that oversees these pharmaceutical companies is “deeply conflicted,” and asked whether, in relation to the legal indemnity given to the pharmaceutical companies by the government, this will still apply “if it transpires that the companies misled about the safety and effectiveness of the product.”
“Perhaps that explains why Pfizer acquired a cancer treatment company for a reported $43 billion earlier this year,” he said, adding that “crucial information was withheld with absolute impunity from the regulator and from the public.”
“These are very hard truths to face ... but we will have to face up to them at some point.”
People Believed ‘Something Funny Was Going On’
This refusal to license effective therapeutics reinforced the idea in many people’s minds that “something funny was going on” over the past few years, he added, giving Evusheld as an example of a prophylactic drug that might have saved lives.“The prevalence of COVID, flu, and heart conditions is the government’s explanation for the excess deaths,” Sir Christopher said, but questioned what was causing the surge in cardiovascular deaths, pointing to research by Dr. Thomas Levy, which found that “a minimum of seven million Americans now have heart damage caused by the COVID vaccines.”
Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s shadow social care minister, said the death rate began to fall at the same time as the jabs were rolled out in 2021, which he believes is proof of the vaccine’s success. But he agreed the government “need to get to the bottom of the data” on excess deaths and to understand why some people had suffered serious side-effects from the jabs.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said in response that excess deaths have now reached a negative level, using the new method of calculation.
“When we have seen those rises in excess deaths—and we have seen significant excess deaths—we have looked at that data to see the cause behind it, whether it is the vaccine, COVID, or other factors,” she said.
She said the government accepts the vaccine has caused deaths and injury, and is “absolutely” researching the issue of COVID-19 vaccine safety, adding that £110 million is ringfenced for this, but did not commit to releasing the additional record-level data requested.
