Ashby MP Andrew Bridgen says he is prepared to sacrifice his political career if it means giving his controversial views on vaccine harms a high profile.

The MP for North West Leicestershire was suspended from the Conservative Party last week for a tweet comparing the COVID vaccine rollout to the Holocaust.

Since then, Mr Bridgen has taken the post down and apologised for any offence caused.

However, his views on vaccines have not changed and he maintains his tweet was not anti-Semitic.

He also threatened legal action against former Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, for suggesting as such in another tweet.

Andrew Bridgen released a video message after being suspended by the Conservative Party. Photo: You Tube

Mr Bridgen released a video message last week responding to being suspended by the Conservatives - leaving him now as an Independent MP.

But he also spoke to the Politics East Midlands programme this weekend to further address the events of the past week.

In the interview, he also brought Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallence into the debate.

Mr Bridgen told the BBC East Midlands political editor Tony Roe: "I removed the tweet, because some people claimed they found it offensive, and I completely refute any allegations of anti-Semitism.

"It's ludicrous, when you think that the actual person I was quoting, via a top cardiologist, was an Israeli doctor of criminology and sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem."

When it was put to the MP that his claims had been fact-checked and were not accurate, he replied. "Let's have the debate in Parliament, let me bring my expert, and let Hancock bring (Chris) Whitty and (Sir Patrick) Vallence, they won't have it"

"I'm not wrong when I look at the public, I've been approached by hundreds of people, and had thousands and thousands of emails of support from the UK and around the world. 

"I've been in contact with lots of doctor groups who are aware of the harms the vaccine is causing."

Mr Bridgen accepts that his political career could be over unless he backs down - which he shows no sign of doing as he continues to tweet about the issue.

He added: "Let's see what the Parliamentary party do. If it's about talking about the vaccine harms, there's little I can do about it.

"It's a real issue and it's growing , it's tremendously important, in fact, I can't think of anything more important."

Asked if he was sacrificing his political career, the MP replied: "If that's what it takes - it doesn't matter about my political career.

"There's something seriously going wrong in this country, and quite obviously it's been going on for several years. It's got to stop."