Covid vaccine: Speech comparing NHS medics to Nazis condemned

A speech at a protest rally that likened NHS nurses and doctors to Nazis executed after World War Two has been condemned by nursing leaders.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were assessing a video of the speech by former nurse Kate Shemirani during Saturday's protest in central London.

The Royal College of Nursing said it was "reprehensible and could put nursing staff at risk".

London mayor Sadiq Khan said Ms Shemirani's comments were "appalling".

Thousands attended Saturday's event at Trafalgar Square, billed as a "live debate" on Covid-19 and linked to several similar demonstrations across the world.

Some attendees expressed anti-vaccination views, while others questioned remaining restrictions and the use of vaccine passports.

Ms Shemirani, who has been criticised, including by her own family, for promoting virus conspiracy theories, made a speech comparing NHS workers to Nazis convicted at the Nuremberg trials.

Speaking about the vaccine, she encouraged the crowd to challenge vaccinators about its safety.

She added: "At the Nuremberg trials, the doctors and nurses stood trial and they hung."

Ms Shemirani went on to appeal to doctors and nurses to "stand with us, the people".

Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Some nursing staff have been subjected to abhorrent behaviour throughout this pandemic.

"Comments like these are reprehensible and could put nursing staff at risk. We urge the public to continue to support our hardworking healthcare workers. We expect employers to ensure they are doing all they can to protect nursing staff."

Protests opposing vaccines and restrictions have become increasingly tied to extreme online conspiracy theories about sinister global plots.

They have also become increasingly aggressive both online and offline. There is frequent discussion of war crimes and execution - with threats often directed at medics, journalists and politicians who protesters believe are complicit in baseless nefarious agendas.

Saturday's rally was no exception - and the violent language directed at NHS doctors and nurses has been condemned.

Former nurse Kate Shemirani, who made the comments, has grown a following on social media during the pandemic promoting false claims about Covid-19 and vaccines.

For many of those in Trafalgar Square, this has become about more than Covid-19 - and experts have warned of the radicalisation to violence happening in a movement that is being co-opted by extremist groups.

Mr Khan said the speech would be roundly rejected by Londoners.

"This is utterly appalling, and I have raised it directly with the Met Police," he wrote on Twitter.

"Our NHS staff are the heroes of this pandemic and Londoners from across this city roundly reject this hate."

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "We are aware of video circulating online showing a speech that occurred during a rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 24 July.

"Officers are carrying out enquiries to establish whether any offences have been committed. No arrests have been made."

Ms Shemirani was suspended from practising as a nurse by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in May this year, and struck off in June.

The NMC said Ms Shemirani had "been using her status as a registered nurse as a way of promoting her own distorted version of the truth" and risked "putting the public at a significant risk of harm during a pandemic".

The Nuremberg trials took place in the German city as part of an international tribunal set up to hold remaining German Nazi leaders to account for their actions during World War Two.

One of the first cases, in 1946, was against 23 leading German physicians and administrators accused of willing participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity.