The NHS nurse and health minister dismissed Dr Aseem Malhotra’s false claims about the covid vaccine as ‘free speech’
In a car crash Newsnight interview last night, ex-Tory minister turned Reform member Maria Caulfield defended her party’s decision to platform an anti-vax doctor at its conference last month.
The NHS nurse defended Reform UK inviting Dr Aseem Malhotra to speak at its party conference on 6 September.
In Malhotra’s speech, he linked King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses to them having taken the covid-19 vaccine.
Caulfield said she disagreed with Malhotra’s comments and that Reform had distanced itself from them, but said she believed in free speech.
She said: “Reform have come out pretty clearly about that yes he spoke at their conference, but it’s not necessarily views that they support.”
Caulfield added: “I believe people have the right to opinions.”
Presenter Victoria Derbyshire challenged Caulfield on this, “That’s not an opinion, that’s misinformation.”
Caulfield, who lost her seat in the 2024 election, downplayed it, saying that as a former covid minister she was used to people voicing concerns and conspiracy theories about vaccines.
“But I wouldn’t stop someone from having those opinions,” she said.
She said that she disagreed with a doctor spreading misinformation but that if you don’t let people speak, this causes conspiracy theories to develop.
Former Green MP Caroline Lucas also challenged Caulfield, saying: “It’s not that you’re trying to stop him, you’re actually amplifying this stuff.”
The former Tory health and women’s minister defended free speech again, arguing that people suppressing their opinions fuels more conspiracy theories.
Lucas pushed back: “There’s a difference between that and actually putting him on a stage at your party conference.”
Despite Caulfield’s defence of free speech and platforming Malhotra, the British cardiologist well-known for his controversial views on vaccines.
He also has close ties to Donald Trump’s government, serving as an advisor to Make America Healthy Again Action and US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior, who is himself an anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist.
Despite being former women’s minister, Caulfield also defended Reform’s decision to deport women and girls to Afghanistan, where their lives would be put at risk.
She also downplayed Nathan Gill’s role in UKIP, the Brexit Party and Reform UK, saying that “in any party these things can happen”.
At the end of last month, Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery for making pro-Russia statements when he was an MEP in the European Parliament.
Lucas pointed out that Nigel Farage claimed he was the only one who knew Gill, but that there was video footage of Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice introducing Gill at a conference.
“It feels as though the leadership of Reform themselves feel pretty squeamish about what’s happened,” Lucas pointed out.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
