REMOVING the whip from Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen was “woke” and wrong, a former government whip has said.

Adam Holloway MP made the comments during a debate over the suspension of the whip from Mr Bridgen over a tweet linking Covid vaccines to heart conditions that also mentioned the Holocaust.

Mr Holloway told Esther McVey and Philip Davis on GB News: “I’m actually horrified with what’s going on in our country at the moment.

“I mean, what has happened to freedom of speech? We actually can’t say what we think. We talk about diversity and inclusion and all this stuff.

“Well, why can’t people have different views, even if they’re crazy views and they’re completely wrong?

“So, for Andrew Bridgen to lose the whip is another example of the Tory party going down this, to me, frighteningly totalitarian woke way of looking at the world.”

He added: “I don’t agree with Andrew on the vaccine stuff but if he wants to say this or anything else, I think people should be allowed to.

“It is really worrying now that we’re all sort of having to self-censor.

“If people are crazy, I want to know that they’re crazy. If people are racist, I want to know that they’re racist. Where is freedom of speech?”

Asked by Philip Davies if Mr Bridgen’s comments were crass and stupid, Mr Holloway said: “In this world of self-censorship, you’re probably wise never to mention the Holocaust, but in fact he rang me about an hour ago and he said he was actually quoting a cardiologist from I think the University of Jerusalem.

“I want to know what people really think, I want to be able to form proper judgments on their opinions and at the moment, in this awful, awful, really right-wing world, we’re not allowed to say what we think or express ourselves, however, stupidly.

“It’s completely different from when I was brought up, you know, we were told that we should die for people’s rights to express themselves and I just think it’s very worrying what’s going on in this country.”

He added: “What’s happening now in this country is wrong…to suggest that your viewers or the public in general need to be somehow protected from views like those held by Andrew Bridgen on the vaccines is quite wrong.

“We want to do diversity and inclusion, well, let’s actually hear what people have to say, and let the public form their own judgement.

“Don’t be so sort of almost fascist and tell people what they can and can’t say.”