Ashby MP Andrew Bridgen has called on the Government to suspend the use of mRNA covid vaccines due to safety concerns.

Mr Bridgen, the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, made a plea to stop using a recently approved Covid vaccine for small children during a debate focused around the potential harms of vaccines in the House of Commons last week.

A low dose Pfizer coronavirus vaccine was authorised to be administered to babies as young as six-months-old and children as old as four years by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRH) earlier this month.

During his speech to the House, Mr Bridgen labelled the mRNA vaccines as "not safe, not effective and not necessary".

Throughout the debate, he cited a variety of figures to support his claims and stated that "since the rollout in the U.K. of the BioNTech-Pfizer mRNA vaccine, we have had almost half a million reports of adverse effects from the public."

The effectiveness of the vaccines was also questioned by Mr Bridgen, who said: "real-world data from the UK during the three-month wave of Omicron at the beginning of this year reveals that we would need to vaccinate 7,300 people over the age of 80 to prevent one death."

Mr Bridgen also claimed he had been informed a leading figure in the British Heart Foundation is suppressing evidence that Covid vaccines cause heart damage.

He said: "It has also been brought to my attention by a whistleblower from a very reliable source that one of these institutions is covering up clear data that reveals that the mRNA vaccine increases inflammation of the heart arteries.

"It is covering this up for fear that it may lose funding from the pharmaceutical industry.

"The lead of that cardiology research department has a prominent leadership role with the British Heart Foundation, and I am disappointed to say that he has sent out non-disclosure agreements to his research team to ensure that this important data never sees the light of day.

Labelling this as an "absolute disgrace", Mr Bridgen continued to raise his concerns and stated that this "systemic failure in an over-medicated population" also contributes to a "huge waste of British taxpayers' money and increasing strain on the NHS."

Recent scrutiny has been cast over the Leicestershire MP, with many calling for him to apologise for his claims around the mRNA vaccine.

Mr Bridgen called on PM Rishi Sunak to overturn the decision to approve the new small dose vaccine for children during Prime Minister's Question Time last week and stated that "mRNA vaccines are not recommended for pregnant women or those who are breastfeeding"

Full Fact, an independent fact-checking charity, said Mr Bridgen's claims about the mRNA vaccine and pregnant women were incorrect.

Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne also said: "This isn't the first time that we've seen anti-vaccine misinformation parroted by Tory backbenchers. Anyone using their platform as an elected representative to spread these kind of baseless conspiracy theories should be ashamed of themselves.

"Vaccine hesitancy costs lives. Covid vaccines are safe and effective, and politicians should be doing everything they can to encourage uptake. Mr Bridgen needs to apologise and correct the record. And Rishi Sunak should get a grip of the conspiracy theorists in the Conservative Party."

Mr Bridgen concluded his speech to the House by saying that he "implores the Government to halt the vaccine use" immediately.

He stated: "The Government's current policy on the mRNA vaccines is on the wrong side of medical ethics, it is on the wrong side of scientific data, and ultimately it will be on the wrong side of history."