The leader of Kent council, Linden Kemkaran (pictured with Nigel Farage), has suggested Reform hold an inquiry into whether Covid vaccines are linked to cancer. areth Fuller/PAThe leader of Kent council, Linden Kemkaran (pictured with Nigel Farage), has suggested Reform hold an inquiry into whether Covid vaccines are linked to cancer. areth Fuller/PAThird of Reform UK’s council leaders have expressed vaccine-sceptic viewsHealth minister decries criticism of vaccinations by heads of four authorities as ‘dangerous and utterly irresponsible’A third of Reform UK’s council leaders across the country have expressed vaccine-sceptic views, openly questioning public health measures that keep millions safe. The leaders of four of the 12 councils where Reform is in charge or the largest party – Kent, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Durham – are among those in the party who have publicly criticised vaccinations. The health minister Zubir Ahmed, an NHS transplant and vascular surgeon, described their remarks as “dangerous and utterly irresponsible”, saying that politicians who cast doubt on vaccines risked exposing children and vulnerable people to harm. It comes after a controversial doctor, the cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, used his main-stage speech at Reform’s conference in September to air a claim that the Covid vaccine had caused cancer in the royal family, which drew immediate condemnation. Malhotra, a senior adviser to the vaccine-sceptic US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy, has long been publicly hesitant about Covid vaccines, claiming they pose a greater threat than the virus itself – a view debunked repeatedly by factcheckers. Reform’s chair, David Bull, described Malhotra as the man who “worked with me to write Reform UK’s health policy”.
