Reform UK distances itself after conference speaker links Covid vaccines to royal cancers

Reform UK said it did not endorse comments made by a conference speaker who claimed that Covid-19 vaccines were linked to cancers in the royal family, after the health secretary described the remarks as “shockingly irresponsible.”

At a party event in Birmingham titled "Make Britain Healthy Again," cardiologist Aseem Malhotra told delegates that, in his view, Covid vaccines had been "a significant factor" in cancers affecting members of the royal family, and that studies showed mRNA vaccines could alter genes. He also said that taking the Covid vaccine was more likely to cause harm than the virus itself and claimed the World Health Organization had been "captured" by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Malhotra said Professor Angus Dalgleish, whom he described as "one of Britain's most eminent oncologists," had told him he considered a vaccine link to be "highly likely." These assertions were presented to conference attendees and have not been independently verified.

Wes Streeting, the United Kingdom's health secretary, criticised Reform for allowing the speech, calling it "shockingly irresponsible" and saying the party had a duty to prevent the spread of misleading health information. Reform UK responded that it "does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech," and distanced itself from Malhotra's claims.

Malhotra, a practising cardiologist who has been associated with critics of mainstream Covid policy, has also served as an adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine sceptic. At the Birmingham event, he repeated several contested claims about vaccine safety that have circulated in recent years.

Public health authorities and experts say there is no evidence that licensed Covid-19 vaccines cause cancer, and scientists explain that mRNA vaccines do not integrate into human DNA. Regulatory agencies have repeatedly concluded that the benefits of authorised Covid vaccines outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people, based on clinical trial data and ongoing safety monitoring.

The speech, and Reform's response, come amid ongoing debates in the U.K. about public health messaging, vaccine confidence and the role of political parties and conferences in platforming speakers with controversial views on medical topics. Health officials and scientific bodies have urged caution when unverified health claims are circulated to broad audiences, saying they can undermine public trust and immunisation programmes.

Malhotra's remarks follow other episodes in which high-profile but disputed claims about vaccine safety have drawn rebukes from government ministers and medical bodies. Reform's clarification that it did not endorse the comments highlights the tension parties face between upholding free speech and preventing the spread of disputed or potentially harmful health information.

No independent evidence was produced at the event to substantiate the specific links to cancer that Malhotra attributed to Covid vaccines. Medical and regulatory authorities continue to recommend that vaccination decisions be guided by established clinical evidence and advice from recognised public health agencies.