Anti-vaxxer and prominent Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, borrowed £3.9 million from the principal financial backer of the Reclaim Party before he joined the party, it has been revealed.
Bridgen became Reclaim Party’s sole MP following his expulsion from the Conservative Party for comparing Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust.
It has since been revealed that he borrowed millions from Jeremy Hosking, the principal financial backer of the party.
Under parliamentary rules, MPs are required to disclose donations or loans that might reasonably be considered by others to be capable of influencing an MP’s actions, speeches or parliamentary votes.
Curiously, it appears that Bridgen did not disclose the loan, although that may have been an oversight by Bridgen and The London Economic understands that the matter has or is being corrected.
There are no obligations on Hosking to disclose any such loans or financial arrangements.
It seems that much of the money loaned was to cover legal bills relating to a disastrous legal battle between Bridgen and his brother over ownership of a pig farm.
The Jarndyce v Jarndyce of our times has not gone well for the intellectually modest Bridgen and he has not only lost the case but has been forced to leave his family home as a result.
Although presumably that means not living next to a pig farm any more, which must count as some sort of upside. The judge in that case called Bridgen “dishonest” and concluded that he had lied under oath.
Bridgen has had a controversial career as an MP, with his main activities seemingly to agitate for the hardest of all Brexits along with a long-running campaign to alleviate the financial hardship of a group of people who according to him suffer in penury.
This group of people are called MPs and he continues to push for increases to their salaries. He has been accused of making homophobic and anti-semitic remarks, albeit he denies the allegations.
He is currently suing Matt Hancock on a matter related to the vaccines and recently complained to parliamentary authorities after he was slapped by soon-to-retire Tory MP Crispin Blunt.
You honestly could not make any of this up.
Related: Lee Anderson says he was offered ‘a lot of money’ to defect to Reform UK