Matt Hancock MP awaits ruling on antisemitism libel claim by Andrew Bridgen MP

Matt Hancock is waiting for a judge's ruling on whether a fellow MP's claim the former health secretary had libellously labelled him as antisemitic should be thrown out.

Independent Andrew Bridgen has made a libel claim against Mr Hancock, independent MP for West Suffolk, over a tweet the latter posted a year ago.

Mr Hancock's lawyers argued there was no case to answer.

Mrs Justice Steyn said she would deliver a ruling on a date to be fixed.

The judge, who oversaw a High Court hearing in London, was told that Mr Bridgen wanted to "clear his name" after allegedly being accused of antisemitism by Mr Hancock.

Mr Hancock was health secretary when the pandemic lockdown was introduced in March 2020 until his resignation in June 2021.

The judge heard he had tweeted after Mr Bridgen posted a comment about Covid-19 vaccines in January 2023.

Mr Bridgen, MP for the North West Leicestershire, shared a link to an article "concerning data about deaths and other adverse reactions linked to Covid vaccines".

He had said: "As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust."

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 claimed "every person reading the tweet knew it was about me".

He said it was "seriously defamatory and untrue" and intended to cause "grievous harm" to his reputation.

Lawyers for Mr Hancock argued that the claim did not have "a realistic prospect of success".

They said it was "hopeless" to argue that a reader of his tweet - which echoed comments made earlier in the day in Parliament - would have assumed it referred to Mr Bridgen.

Mr Bridgen was ultimately expelled from the Conservative Party in April 2022 over his social media post.

He joined actor Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party but later quit the group over a "difference in direction".

Mr Hancock, who served as the Conservative government's health secretary during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, lost the Tory whip over his appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2022.

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