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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Gaby Hinsliff

You can’t stop the likes of Bridgen and Tate saying dangerous things – but you can take away their soapboxes

Andrew Bridgen MP and cult online misogynist Andrew Tate.
Andrew Bridgen MP and cult online misogynist Andrew Tate. Composite: Shutterstock; AP

The Conservative backbencher Andrew Bridgen was never the most glittering star in the political firmament. You might recall him from such hits as wrongly suggesting that any English person could ask for an Irish passport post-Brexit, or posting a raunchy video in a ministerial WhatsApp group.

More recently you might recall him being suspended from parliament for five days for breaching lobbying rules. But what ultimately cost him the Conservative whip was something of a different order entirely. Bridgen has recently taken to spouting anti-vaxxer messages on Twitter, and making bizarre claims about a global conspiracy to cover up the truth about Covid.

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