Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has today indicated that he backs President Donald Trump’s unproven recent claims linking paracetamol and autism.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning [24 September], Farage refused to criticise President Trump’s claims.
When asked if he agreed with Trump on a link between paracetamol and autism, he said: “I have no idea.”
“We were told thalidomide was a very safe drug and it isn’t. Who knows. I don’t know, you don’t know.”
“When it comes to science I don’t side with anybody. It’s never settled. We should remember that.”
On Monday [22 September], Trump sent shockwaves through the scientific and medical community worldwide by announcing that US doctors would be advised not to prescribe paracetamol (known as Tylenol in the US) to pregnant women.
Trump explained his announcement by claiming that taking Tylenol during pregnancy is “not good” for pregnancy women as it “can be associated with a very increased rise of autism.”
Trump’s claims have been disputed by many scientific bodies, and criticised as inflicting cruelty on pregnant women that rely on paracetamol for pain relief.
Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said that Trump’s claims are “irresponsible” and “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence.”
“The conditions people use acetaminophen [paracetamol] to treat during pregnancy are far more dangerous than any theoretical risks.”
Trump’s claims have attracted backlash from politicians across the spectrum in Britain.
Speaking on the Lorraine programme yesterday [23 September], Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting asserted that there is “no link” between taking paracetamol during pregnancy and autism within children.
“Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.”
“Listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS.”
“I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly on this.”
Farage’s support for Trump’s claims have attracted similar consternation.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said on X: “This is irresponsible conspiracy-theory nonsense. It will create fear and anxiety among parents and pregnant women will suffer unnecessary pain by believing it.”
“Not a serious party of government.”
Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “Nigel Farage wants to impose Trump’s dangerous anti-science agenda here in the UK.”
“Peddling this kind of nonsense is irresponsible and wrong.”
It was not the only absurd claim that Farage made during his interview.
Mirroring Trump’s much-disputed claims last year that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs in the Ohio city of Springfield in the US, Farage suggested that eastern European migrants in the UK were eating carp from ponds and swans from British Royal Parks.
Farage said: “If I said to you that swans were being eaten in Royal Parks in this country, that carp were being taken out of ponds and eaten in this country by people who come from cultures that have a different… would you agree it happened, is happening here?”
Swans are a protected species in the UK by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to kill or disturb swans, their nests or their eggs.
Farage’s claim was quickly refuted by the Royal Parks: “We’ve not had any incidents reported to us of people killing or eating swans in London’s eight Royal Parks. Our wildlife officers work closely with the Swan Sanctuary to ensure the welfare of the swans across the parks.”
Farage’s comments about paracetamol have also come after British cardiologist Assem Malhotra made contentious claims about the Covid vaccine at Reform’s conference earlier this month.
Speaking at the conference, British cardiologist Assem Malhotra claimed: “the Covid vaccines have been a significant factor in the cancers in the royal family.”
Featured image via Tia Dufour / Wikimedia Commons
