Militant doctors' leader once compared Brexit to rape and alleged murder to Jesus
Dr Tom Dolphin, 46, boss of the union at the centre of the junior doctors' walkouts, has been a political campaigner for more than a decade.
At the height of the UK-EU negotiations in 2019, he criticised comments by Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who had said Theresa May 's request for a Brexit delay was 'as close to a national humiliation as I've seen'.
Dr Dolphin, who was a Labour Party activist and member under Jeremy Corbyn, commented on the remarks on social media, saying: 'This reminds me of the surveys on 'What do you fear most?', where men say 'Humiliation' and women say 'Rape/assault'.
'It is high privilege to be able to conflate embarrassment with actual harm, and those who are not at personal risk from Brexit don't get how scared some are.'
It has also emerged that he compared Luigi Mangione, who was arrested in December over the shooting of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, to Jesus.
Appearing to praise the alleged murderer, Dr Dolphin shared a photograph of Mangione in an orange jumpsuit surrounded by police and likened it to Greek painter El Greco's 1579 The Disrobing Of Christ just before his crucifixion. Dr Dolphin wrote: 'This dramatic scene was the authorities trying to show what happens when one man stands up against the rich and powerful.
'I don't think this was how the NYPD [New York City Police Department] were anticipating it would look. Perhaps El Greco's piece should be retitled 'Christ's Perp Walk To The Praetorium'.'
He added: 'To be clear, Mangione is alleged to have used violence to further his cause, and Jesus (as recorded in The Bible) did quite the opposite. I was just struck by the visual imagery.'
The tweets come despite Dr Dolphin telling junior doctors in 2023 that 'the Right-wing press are at it again' and urged members to 'lock down your social media because these [redacted] are sniffing round again'.
Dr Dolphin was elected as BMA council chairman last month, having been a member of it since 2012. He works as an anaesthetic consultant in London.
Conservative health spokesman Stuart Andrew said: 'These remarks are deeply troubling and inappropriate. To liken a man charged with murder to Jesus, and to compare Brexit to rape, is offensive and deeply disturbing.'
Resident, formerly junior, doctors in England will go on strike this week with the BMA saying the Government failed to make an offer to 'meet the scale' of challenges felt by medics. The union is demanding a 29.2 per cent pay rise.
In September, BMA members voted to accept a government pay deal worth 22.3per cent on average over two years.
A BMA spokesman said: 'Dr Dolphin was not trivialising the serious impact of sexual violence but instead drawing an analogy to emphasise how individuals who are not personally affected by a major event – such as Brexit – may struggle to understand the fear or harm it can cause others.
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