Fife politician Neale Hanvey is set to appear at an event in Glasgow involving alleged conspiracy theorists including the former footballer, Matt Le Tissier.
Hanvey – who has served as the Alba MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath – will appear at a live event organised by the ‘Bring the Noise’ podcast in Glasgow on 2 June which is fundraising for the vaccine injured. He is standing for re-election in the seat at the upcoming general election in July.
Other guests include Dr Aseem Malhotra, a high-profile cardiologist accused of spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and its vaccines. Also attending is John Campbell, a Youtuber who has been accused of promoting unsupported treatments for Covid-19 and making false claims about the vaccine.
Former England midfielder, Le Tissier, is slated to provide a video message to attendees.
Le Tissier has repeated various conspiracies online including unsupported anti-Covid-19 vaccine claims, weather manipulation, climate change misinformation, and the Kalergi Plan, a far-right conspiracy claiming white Europeans are being intentionally replaced with other races through immigration.
Organisers claimed the event was intended to platform the concerns of those injured by a Covid-19 vaccine and argued the speakers had “the best credentials” to debate the topic.
Hanvey said he did not “share the views of everyone at the event” but defended “their right to hold them and debate them”.
The politician has previously spoken about vaccine injury in parliamentary debates and written about the issue in a newspaper column. “My position on covid vaccine injury is not news,” he added. “I have constituents whose lives have been deeply impacted by the Covid-19 vaccine, and they are my priority.”
However, campaigners said Hanvey’s attendance at the event alongside speakers accused of spreading misinformation and conspiracies was a “huge red flag” and that it was “unacceptable for MPs” to be sharing a platform with “dangerous and conspiratorial views”.
The claims (these men) make are exaggerated, one-sided, and have influenced people to reject scientific advice on vaccines.
Professor Trish Greenhalgh, University of Oxford and SAGE advisor
Hanvey has already appeared on an online version of the Bring the Noise podcast, hosted by John Watt of the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group — which represents Scots who have suffered an adverse reaction or bereavement due to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Adverse reactions and deaths resulting from Covid-19 vaccines have been reported, including in Scotland, and the UK Government has set up a vaccine damages payment scheme for those who are “severely disabled” as a result of a vaccination.
Reports of Covid-19 vaccine side effects remain relatively rare, and the latest research shows the benefits of being vaccinated against Covid-19 vaccine significantly outweigh the risks of not getting it for most people.
Hanvey has repeatedly raised the issue of deaths relating to the Covid-19 vaccines in parliament and questioned ministers on the number of adverse reactions and fatalities linked to the vaccines.
He was suspended from the SNP in the run-up to the 2019 general election due to alleged antisemitic posts he shared on social media.
This included sharing a cartoon on Facebook of Jewish billionaire George Soros depicted as a puppet master controlling world leaders.
Hanvey was later readmitted to the party and briefly served as the SNP’s spokesperson on vaccine deployment. He subsequently defected to Alba in 2021 and has since been the party’s leader in the House of Commons.
Professor Trish Greenhalgh, a medical researcher at the University of Oxford and SAGE advisor, said she was “concerned that a sitting MP is planning to share a platform with Aseem Malhotra and John Campbell”.
Greenhalgh continued: “These men are known for their extreme, unscientific views on vaccines and have both been instrumental in circulating false and misleading information on social media and other platforms, despite their clinical qualifications.
“The claims they make are exaggerated, one-sided, and have influenced people to reject scientific advice on vaccines.
“I have formally reported Dr Malhotra to the General Medical Council in the past. No MP should be associating themselves with these extremists.”
Greenhalgh’s views were echoed by Georgina Laming of the campaign group Hope not hate.
“Neale Hanvey’s attendance at the Bring the Noise podcast is a huge red flag but this isn’t the first time he’s been caught flirting with the conspiracy scene,” Laming told The Ferret, referring to Hanvey’s previous suspension by the SNP.
She added: “It’s unacceptable for MPs to attend this event and platform these dangerous and conspiratorial views.”
It’s unacceptable for MPs to attend this event and platform these dangerous and conspiratorial views.
Georgina Laming, Hope not hate
Immunology Professor Sheena Cruickshank, from the University of Manchester, said she was “disappointed to see that a Scottish MP has chosen to platform anti-vaccine people and views”.
“The mRNA vaccines have been shown to be safe in multiple trials and with their ready ability to be adjusted for viral variants they are vital tools in the fight against Covid-19,” she said.
The charity Sense about Science, which promotes greater public understanding of science, said it was the job of MPs to “engage with constituents but also their responsibility to encourage good critical thinking”.
A spokesperson for the group said: “We would be delighted to put Neale Hanvey in touch with experts in both vaccines and in assessing medical evidence to help him do that, and to encourage the audience to distinguish healthy scepticism from a refusal to accept well-evidenced truths.”
Neale Hanvey told The Ferret that he had spoken out on vaccine injuries “not because it is easy, but because it is the right thing to do.”I have constituents whose lives have been deeply impacted by the covid vaccine, and they are my priority.
He added: “My basic starting point is the simple fact that any agent has the propensity to cause injury or harm.
“Given the resistance of big pharma and governments to even acknowledge the potential of vaccine injury, there has been no programme of surveillance to assess the prevalence of vaccine complications so no can say with any certainty how serious the problem is.
“I have constituents whose lives have been deeply impacted by the covid vaccine, and they are my priority.
“Every single question I have raised in parliament and directly with ministers is backed up in the scientific literature, and I will never apologise for doing my job of asking difficult questions when they clearly have merit.
“The basic fact is, that I am speaking at an event to raise funds for people who are suffering after their covid vaccine, and just like speaking in parliament I don’t share the views of everyone in the room, but I defend their right to hold and debate them.”
We have attached a full version of his response at the end of this article.
Matt Le Tissier said: “This event is about getting justice for the vaccine injured. Whatever other views I hold, which have been misrepresented by so-called fellow ‘journalists’ like yourself, has no bearing on this event, the fact that you wish to detract from the point of the event tells me all I need to know about the kind of man you are.”
Dr Malhotra was approached for comment. He posted The Ferret’s request to his public X and Instagram accounts, inviting his followers to email The Ferret to help us “get a better understanding of what’s really happening”.
In a subsequent response he said: “The facts are clear. Big Pharma is a psychopathic entity who have a callous disregard for patient safety.
“Those supporting them who are wilfully blind to this are also in my view unwittingly perpetuating colonial thinking rooted in white supremacy. I will continue to fight for public health and vehemently oppose racial injustice”.
John Watt, the event organiser, also responded in this video posted to his profile on X. In his response video he accused The Ferret of failing to “focus on the purpose of the event”, instead “going after speakers”, who he believed had the best credentials” to discuss the topic.
“The one thing you can’t deny is that this Covid-19 vaccine has injured and killed people globally,” he added.
Neale Hanvey’s full response
Main image: David Woolfall/89Stocker
