Southwark council reports Piers Corbyn to police over leaflets likening Covid vaccination to Auschwitz
Piers Corbyn, the climate change sceptic and brother of the former Labour leader, is facing a police investigation over ‘disturbing’ leaflets likening Covid-19 vaccination efforts to the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.
Southwark council has condemned the leaflets as an attempt to scare residents with harmful conspiracies that could result in more lives lost.
Cllr Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council, said: “We’re aware that some of our residents have received a leaflet through their door containing disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine.
“It is deeply disturbing that a very small minority is playing upon the fears and concerns of some of our residents, particularly those most at risk from Covid-19 such as people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
“The vaccine is our best protection against Covid-19 and so false information and harmful conspiracy theories could cost yet more lives due to this deadly disease.
“We are working extremely hard with health partners and community leaders to listen to and address the genuine concerns of our residents, and reassure them that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective.
“Shameful disinformation of this sort dampens our efforts to help save lives, and that is why we have reported this incident to the police, who are investigating whether a crime has been committed.”
The leaflets, that have distributed through residents’ doors in Southwark, show a sketch of the Nazi concentration camp with the words “Vaccines are safe path to freedom” written on the gates – in replacement of infamous slogan “Arbeit macht frei” (Work sets you free).
The sketch is featured above a cut out of a newspaper headline from a report on vaccine hesitancy.
The Mayor of Lambeth, Philip Normal, has also criticised the leaflets calling them ‘beyond disgusting’.
Posting on his twitter account @philipnormal, he wrote: “As if this came through our door. Antisemitism, racism, HATE.. is not tolerated in my house, or this country, or the planet Earth.”
Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was found guilty last December of breaching Covid-19 regulations by attending an anti-lockdown protest in London’s Hyde Park.
Mr Corbyn has been approached for a comment.
For more information about the Covid-19 vaccine, visit www.selondonccg.nhs.uk/what-
