What conspiracy theories are UK MPs being told to look out for?

MPs and election candidates are being provided with a guide on recognising conspiracy theories – ranging from false claims about 5G technology to others about vaccines and global organisations such as the International Monetary Fund.

Colleagues of Mordaunt on the Conservative benches are among those who have flirted with at least one of the conspiracy theories identified – that an urban design principle sometimes referred to as “15-minute cities” is a means of controlling movement and personal freedoms.

The Tory backbencher, Nick Fletcher, asked Mordaunt in parliament in 2023 to set aside time for a debate on what he described as “the international socialist concept of so-called 15-minute cities”, which would “cost us our personal freedom”.

Andrew Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire, lost the Conservative whip after comparing the use of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust and has continued to voice extreme anti-vax rhetoric in parliament.

Originally a vague set of proposals from the World Economic Forum to encourage governments to move to adopt more equitable policies, the concept has been hijacked by conspiracy theorists claiming it is a bid by a small group to exert control.

Spin-off theories have included claims – fuelled by attempts to reduce meat consumption – that the WEF wants to make people eat insects.