UK Parliament debates COVID vaccines and excess death

British MP Andrew Bridgen last week lectured Parliament on the concerning increase of excess deaths since the introduction of the COVID vaccines in early 2021. Bridgen is not the first to suggest a connection between the COVID vaccine campaign and excess deaths, but he is the first to present this information formally before a governmental body. 

"This might be the first debate on excess deaths in our Parliament. Indeed, it might be the first debate on excess deaths in the world," Bridgen concluded, stressing that it would not be the last. He called for a longer, three-hour debate. 

Back in October 2022, Mr. Bridgen pointed out the "strong correlation between vaccine uptake and the excess deaths" at the end of a statement he made in a parliamentary debate on COVID-19 vaccine safety. It took nine months of petitioning and more than twenty refusals to receive approval for this debate, which was allotted a mere 30 minutes. The call for this debate was supported by private citizens who petitioned their local MPs to attend, encouraged by popular YouTuber Dr. John Campbell. Dr Campbell has been closely reporting on and analyzing the pandemic and the measures taken to counter it since it began. 

Despite the effort, a mere 20 MPs out of 650 bothered to show up to hear about how Britons continue to die at rates above average despite the vaccines. The public gallery, on the other hand, appeared to be full and audibly supportive of Bridgen's position. Mr. Bridgen spoke for about 20 minutes and was followed by a short response delivered by Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Maria Caulfield. 

Bridgen pointed out numerous concerns, including the following: 

• Excess deaths continue to be recorded into 2023 and these excesses are greater in much younger people than in older cohorts most affected by COVID-19. 
• This trend has been observed in many countries. 
• Data concerning this issue is frequently hidden or distorted. For example, excess mortality is determined by comparison to a baseline death rate. The U.K. Office of National Statistics (ONS) compares the years 2020 and 2021 to the 5 year average for 2015–2019. Inexplicably, compares 2022 with the average for 2016-2019 plus 2021 instead of 2015-2019. In note 2 of the dataset:

The average for 2015 to 2019 provides a comparison of the number of deaths expected in a usual (non-pandemic) year and has been used as a comparison for deaths registered in 2020 and 2021. For deaths registered in 2022, the five-year average is taken from the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. 

See: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/excessdeathsinenglandandwales , March 2020 to December 2022 edition of this data set Excel file: Excess deaths in England and Wales, March 2020 to December 2022 (Notes tab: note 2)

• Those who bring up the issue or ask questions find themselves under attack. 
• The ONS acknowledged (before February 2022) that the mortality rates of young people in 2021 should be analyzed, but hadn't done it yet, claiming they were waiting for more reliable data. There has been no report since then. ONS has consistently refused to provide data for spurious reasons. 
• Even in the elderly, there continued to be excess deaths after March 2021. This is puzzling, as after a pandemic there is usually a year of below average deaths as many who would have died in that year died a year earlier than expected due to the pandemic.  
• Evidence of vaccine efficacy has come into question. Results of the vaccine trials were misinterpreted to exaggerate efficacy and play down adverse events. 
• Studies have demonstrated that the highest rates of excess mortality since 2022 tend to correlate with areas that were most highly vaccinated. Data from Australia, where there were very few deaths from COVID, reveal increased rates of death after the vaccination campaign began. These deaths were not from COVID. They were not from diseases commonly affecting the elderly. They are mostly cardiac diseases, and the most significant increase was in the 15–44 age range. It is unlikely they are due to reduced use of statins or other medication, as that would take time to appear and be more spread out.  
• Even in the original Pfizer trials, a cardiac death signal was noted. In fact, looking at all-cause mortality – not just COVID mortality – more people died in the vaccinated group than in the placebo group.  
• Real-world evidence is that vaccination did not significantly alter the COVID death rate. 
• Investigations continue to uncover new potential deficits of the vaccines, such as DNA contamination. 

A transcript of Bridgen's speech and the evidence supporting it can be found here, courtesy of HART.  

MP Philip Davies commented on the striking silence of the media on these deaths, especially in light of their previous dedicated reporting on COVID deaths. Bridgen concurred, "We turned society upside down before vaccination because of fear of excess deaths from covid. Today we have substantially more excess death and in younger people, and there is complete, eerie silence." 

Bridgen is a member of the Reclaim Party, whose  main focus is “free speech as the basis for every aspect of our democracy and our society.” He was expelled from the Tory party in April over a tweet in which he wrote "[a]s one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.", which was widely reported as Bridgen himself "comparing COVID vaccines to the Holocaust". (See here, here, here, here, and here,) Many reject that comparison, but others feel it is apt. This includes numerous Holocaust survivors, notably Vera Sharav, who produced a documentary on the issue. 

BBC added banners at the bottom of the screen containing pro-vaccine rhetoric. Much of it had nothing to do with excess deaths, the topic of Bridgen's speech, or even COVID vaccines. For example, one banner read: “NHS guidance states vaccines do not cause autism. . .”