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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Ben Quinn Political correspondent

Zahawi defection pushes Reform’s vaccine scepticism into spotlight

Nadhim Zahawi and Nigel Farage sitting at a table with microphones
Nadhim Zahawi with Nigel Farage at the press conference announcing the former Tory’s defection to the party. Photograph: Thomas Krych/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

There was no shortage of ammunition for reporters seeking to pepper Nadhim Zahawi with questions when the former Conservative chancellor was unveiled as Reform’s newest recruit on Monday.

But one persistent line of questioning seemed to draw a flash of real anger from the defector: did he reject the views of a doctor who was permitted by Reform to use the main stage at its annual conference to claim that the Covid vaccines, which Zahawi had himself rolled out as vaccines minister during the pandemic, were responsible for King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancers?

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