A third of Reform UK council leaders across the country have expressed vaccine skepticism, openly questioning the public health measures that keep millions of people safe.
The leaders of four of the 12 councils governed by Reform, or the largest party – Kent, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Durham – are among those within the party who have publicly criticized the vaccine.
Health Secretary Zubir Ahmed, an NHS transplant and vascular surgeon, called their remarks “dangerous and completely irresponsible”, saying politicians who question vaccines risk harm to children and vulnerable people.
This comes after controversial doctor, cardiologist Asim Malhotra, used his speech at the September Reform conference to voice the claim that the Covid vaccine caused cancer within the royal family, causing immediate condemnation.
Malhotra, a senior adviser to vaccine-skeptic US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, has been publicly wavering for a long time on Covid vaccines, claiming they pose a greater threat than the virus itself – view repeatedly refuted by fact checkers.
Reform chairman David Bull described Malhotra as the person who “worked with me to write Reform UK's health policy”. However, vaccine hesitancy appears to be spreading throughout the party. Nigel Faragehis deputy Richard Ticeand conservative defector Danny Kruger all raised doubts.
First reform council leader Linden Kemkaran, who chairs Kent County Council, proposed in September that the party there should be an investigation into whether Covid vaccines are linked to cancer, although there is no medical evidence to support this idea.
She told Times Radio that Reform is “not afraid to talk about topics that other people choose to ignore” and that the link is “something we should talk about. Definitely”.
Worcestershire party leader Joe Monk told at the council meeting In November she acknowledged the role vaccines played in preventing disease but was “still undecided on some vaccines”, raising concerns among opposition advisers.
“My views are shaped by personal experience, the reaction to vaccines itself, and conversations with several medical practitioners who themselves hold very different views on this topic,” she said.
Leader of Warwickshire County Council George Finch shared doubts about the latest chickenpox vaccine on LBC radio in August, saying that “chickenpox parties get it out of the way” and that the virus is “part of life”.
Government ministers hope adding the chickenpox jab to the childhood vaccination program will protect some children from serious complications caused by the virus. It may also reduce the time parents spend caring for infected children.
Durham County Council reform leader Andrew Husband. said in a long deleted post on X in October 2023 that vaccines are “horrible, like all crimes against humanity.”
Ahmed, who also works for the NHS in Glasgow, condemned the remarks. “These are dangerous and completely irresponsible comments from senior UK reform politicians,” he said.
“Vaccines save lives, and politicians who question them risk harming children and vulnerable people.
“The British public deserve better than conspiracy theories, snake oil and misinformation from those in power.”
Amid growing vaccine skepticism, public health leaders have launched national campaigns to increase vaccination rates among children, especially as concerns grow about falling vaccination rates and the resurgence of serious diseases such as measles in England.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Reform UK strongly supports proven vaccination programs that protect public health. But, as our board members have highlighted, forcing blind compliance with every vaccine without question or evidence undermines trust, sabotages successful rollout and contributes to the spread of misinformation.”
