MP Andrew Bridgen has said he will withdraw his threat to sue Matt Hancock if he apologies, after the former Health Secretary criticised him for comparing Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.

Mr Bridgen, who recently had the whip removed for the comments on Twitter, also admitted he could have phrased his tweet better.

He told GB News: “My lawyers have written to him [Matt Hancock] with a very detailed letter laying out the case for defamation.

“The ball is very much In Matt Hancock’s court, he can apologise, he can make a payment which will go to those that have been vaccine harmed or we can take this further. It’s very much up to him.

“I can’t really comment on it a lot more than that because otherwise, my lawyers will go bonkers.”

In a discussion with Esther McVey and Philip Davies, he said: “There are three stipulations there in the letter. It’s up to Matt Hancock now what he does. It’ll take him some time to digest that letter.

“He had it last Monday. Let’s see what he comes back with. But I’m quite happy to pursue the case if that’s what he wants to do.”

The MP justified his tweet by citing data which was released on Thursday about the effectiveness of the booster campaign.

He continued: “I wouldn’t wish to cause offence to any group, certainly not the Jewish group.

“I attended the Holocaust memorial service in Parliament on Thursday afternoon and then I was met by the correspondent from the Jewish Chronicle. He agreed that there was nothing antisemitic about that statement, but he and I agree that I could have phrased it better.”

Recalling the start of the row, he said: “I had a text on my phone the morning of my suspension saying ‘ring me urgently’ from the chief whip. I rang and I didn’t get a word in edgeways.

“He told me it was because of the mentioning of the Holocaust, it was anti-semitic and I was immediately losing the whip. Then he put the phone down on me.

“He then sent me a text which basically reiterated what he said, but there was no mention of my stance on the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. It was all about anti-semitism.

“However, that narrative, especially when everyone found out 24 hours later, I was actually quoting a scientific paper from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that narrative seemed to shift to my stance on the vaccines and I think for a Member of Parliament to be silenced for having a view on a matter, an important matter like this, which is shared by many academics, is pretty unprecedented and a sad indictment of the state of our democracy.”

He added: “They can take the whip off me but they can’t stop me from being Conservative.

“I want to be out there helping my Conservatives councilors in West Leicestershire retain control of this Council where together we’ve done so much great work over the last 15 years…

“I want my Conservatives to win those elections in May and I want to be out there on the doorsteps with them.”