Last week’s Reform UK conference held in Birmingham revealed the bizarre nature of the party’s inner workings and policy message. From the surprise appearance of Lucy Connolly toAndrea Jenkyn’s Eurovision main character moment, the conference seemed more like a fever dream than an event led by a supposed government in waiting. Yet nothing was more strange and concerning than Dr Aseem Malhotra’s appearance on stage.
Malhotra is a peculiar individual: in 2015, the world-renowned cardiologist featured in The Sunday Times as one ofDebrett’s 500most influential people in Britain; he has written forthe Guardian, co-authored an albeit controversial bestseller book, The Pioppi Diet, and until recently, was considered a leading figure in health and science in Britain. The doctor comes across as assiduous and well-read in the latest scientific research, often citing various peer-reviewed studies in his talks — the archetype of a smooth-talking celebrity doctor.
However, since the pandemic, the cardiologist’s career has taken a dark turn, and he has become a leading figure in the pseudoscience health sphere. Over the past few years, Malhotra has spouted misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines — which saved millions of lives — based on links to cardiac death. As a result, his global following has skyrocketed (he has almost 700,000 followers on X), and he appeared on Steven Bartlett’s ‘The Diary of a CEO podcast’ (infamous for platforming pseudo health influencers), stating that the vaccine was a ‘net-negative for society’. It is baffling that Malhotra remainsGMC registered and has a licence to practice.
On stage at the conference, Malhotra used his platform to claim that ‘Covid vaccines have been a significant factor in the cancer of members of the royal family’, supposedly quoting the oncologist Professor Angus Dalgleish, who is yet to comment. This was quickly refuted by anumber of experts, including Brian Ferguson, a professor of viral immunology at the University of Cambridge, who confirmed there are zero credible links between cancer and Covid vaccines.
It sparked the outrage that I am sure Reform and Malhotra had intended. The party has since attempted todistance itself from Malhotra’s remarks — but not entirely. Both Laila Cunningham, a Reform UK councillor, and Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, who admitted he is not au fait with medical science, defended his appearance on the grounds of ‘free speech’. What Tice fails to understand is that the core principles of scientific research do not account for ‘free speech’. There is fact, and there is fiction.
Public health measures are not a matter for ‘debate’ or starting a conversation; there are real-life consequences to spreading false rhetoric. Over the last few years, we have seen the fallout since the pandemic of vaccine scepticism: rates of MMR vaccinations are down, with the UK being theworst amongst the G7. It only takes a few to start falling for these untruths before herd immunity is at risk. That is why, now, almost on a biannual basis, you will see a devastating headline of a child dying from preventable diseases such as measles.
Of course, Malhotra was purposely chosen as a speaker. Earlier this year, he wasappointed the Chief Medical Advisor for pseudoscience populist Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement under the current Trump administration. He also supports‘Action on World Health’, a campaign groupco-founded by none other than Reform UK’s leader, Nigel Farage, designed to replace the World Health Organisation. The right-wing party is trying to recreate the populist anti-expert agenda, which is destroying healthcare in America, because it stokes division and wins votes. Facts and numbers do not matter when feelings impose themselves across policy. It has resonated deeply within the public, much like the false belief that immigration is the all-fixing, kicking dog for desperate politicians and the media.
In aprevious article, I discussed this shift to‘diagonalism’, a relatively new political concept, termed by William Callison and Quinn Slobodian, and popularised by Naomi Klein. It centres around the belief that all power is tied to conspiracy, transcending traditional left and right politics; there is an overlap in belief that there is a common enemy: power. Conspiratorial theorists have become the new political campaigners, and their popularity is apparent – take Russell Brand, Joe Rogan, and Kennedy, Jr., to name a few. Since the pandemic, these figures have captured a moment. People feel as if their liberties have been impeded, that they have no control, and such leaders use this to their advantage, for their own gain. This is a deeply potent political tool and, when used effectively, it can harbour a sensation in voters who believe that something is inherently wrong with the status quo.
The public is not wrong to fall victim to this. After all, can you blame them for not wanting to trust successive neoliberal governments that fail to deliver on promises? The healthcare sector is not free from this either: we as a community have repeatedly made mistakes and covered up the most abhorrent scandals. TheTuskegee experiment comes to mind, whereby African American men were lied to about receiving treatment for Syphilis and were prevented from receiving readily available treatment. On our side of the pond in the NHS, the infected blood scandal revealed repeated failure to prioritise patient safety. As a doctor, I cannot blame patients for feeling distrust, particularly in the UK, where the health service is a direct branch of the government. However, when this distrust is abused for political gain, it is a disgrace worthy of ignominy.
The Reform conference can only be described asdisinformation, rather than misinformation. Disinformation is designed for perverse political gain, which is exactly what Reform wants, as it gives them a path to power by polarising the public. There is precedent for this, too — Reform MPs and councillors have made an effort to pepper in climate disinformation throughout their first year in parliament. Tice was quoted as saying it is ‘garbage’to suggest human activities are the cause of climate change, and redirected the blame to scientists and the UN. Earlier this year, in a joint crusade between Tice and now former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, the pair spread falsehoods about the use ofBovaer, a low methane additive for cattle, which research shows can cut methane emissions by 30 percent; it was approved by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is known for rigorous scrutiny before any decisions are made.
Pitting experts against the public is intended to recreate the populism seen in America. It may well work to lead Reform to electoral victory, but the scientific community and any politician who cares about the truth should vehemently condemn the party. Regardless of whether Reform wins the next election, the long-term consequences of these views are damaging for the public psyche. While the death of expertise engulfs the Western World by way of politicians and influencers, Malhotra, at least on the face of it, is credible and has a strong scientific background. What happens when an expert spreads lies? It is fertile ground for disturbing conspiratorial and dark misinformation to run riot, allowing myths to be held up by credentials, and risking decades of scientific progress — all in the name of political clout and point scoring.