MP Marcus Fysh of the Conservative Party is a forthright critique of vaccine mandates.
British lawmaker Marcus Fysh, member of the Conservative Party has been excoriated after comparing the plans to roll out COVID-19 vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany. The vaccine mandate in question will be introduced on Wednesday, provided that the Parliament gives permission.
Fysh is an outspoken opponent of vaccine mandates, though claims that he is not anti-vaccine. In an interview on Monday with the BBC 5 Live, he said “We are not a ‘papers please’ society. This is not Nazi Germany, okay?”. After the host pointed out the major gap between a totalitarian Nazi regime and the vaccine mandate, Fysh replied “the thin end of an authoritarian wedge and that’s why we will resist it.”
In the past, Fysh has repeatedly compared claimed the vaccine mandates are authoritarian, stating that they don’t even work. His recent comments sparked outrage among British lawmakers, experts and Jewish organisations.
Human rights advocate and COVID law expert Adam Wagner also condemned Fysh’s comments in his tweet: „It’s certainly not Nazi Germany, where there was state-sponsored mass murder, ghettos, torture, death camps and the literal dehumanization and genocide of entire ethnic and other groups. Let’s not inadvertently trivialize this important debate through ridiculous comparisons.”
President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Marie van der Zyl stated that „It is completely unacceptable to compare the proposed vaccine passports with Nazi Germany. We urge people, particularly those in positions of authority, to avoid these highly inappropriate comparisons.”