Junior physician who joked on Twitter about gassing ‘the Jews’ and mentioned movies calling the Holocaust a sham have been ‘fairly convincing’ is let off with a warning

A junior doctor who joked about gassing ‘the Jews’, referred to Jewish people as ‘Jew banker goblins’ and said videos calling the Holocaust a sham were ‘pretty convincing’ has escaped being struck off.

Dr Martin Whyte, a former executive member of the British Medical Association (BMA), was suspended in 2023 over a series of ‘utterly vile’ tweets that he posted on his social media, including calling for people to boycott Israel ‘out of spite’.

Now the General Medical Council (GMC) has concluded that while his posts were ‘grossly offensive’ they fall ‘just short of that which would be considered serious enough to pose a risk to public protection’.

An investigation committee heard that Dr Whyte had made comments that were not ‘intentionally antisemitic’ and had drawn its conclusion based on the fact that it was ‘not the doctor’s intention to be antisemitic’.

Dr Whyte, who is currently employed by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as a specialist trainee in paediatrics, has instead been given a formal warning by the medical regulator.

It states: ‘On 18 April 2018, 27 October 2018 and 23 November 2018 Dr Whyte posted comments on Twitter (now known as X) which were grossly offensive. 

‘This conduct does not meet the standards required of a doctor. It risks bringing the profession into disrepute and it must not be repeated.’

Among the social media posts that brought Dr Whyte to the attention of the GMC and the BMA were jibes about the ‘decomposing carcass of the Queen’ and called Conservatives ‘b*******’, adding they should not be allowed to work as medics.

In response to a tweet about the deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, which killed 11 and wounded six, Dr Whyte tweeted: ‘hahaha zeig heil hahaha gas the jews hahaha just kidding but have you seen these youtube videos about the holohoax the’re pretty convincing imo [in my opinion]…’.

The same year, 2018, he tweeted: ‘Me: It’s important to represent Judaism and Jewish people fairly and respectfully in art. Also me: Jew banker goblins.’ 

And a year earlier, he argued that people should boycott Israel ‘out of spite’, writing: ‘Lifehack: promise not to boycott Israel, but do it anyway. Do it out of spite.’ 

He also suggested, with zero evidence, that political journalist and Spectator publisher Andrew Neil was only on the BBC because he had killed a prostitute with Tony Hall, the then director-general of the Beeb.

Replying to Andrew Neil on Twitter, he wrote: ‘Ahaha you thin skinned babyman.

‘How are you still so prominent at the BBC? Did you and Tony Hall kill a prostitute together or something?’

After the social posts surfaced, a BMA spokesperson said the Tweets were ‘totally unacceptable’, adding that Dr Whyte had been removed from ‘any and all BMA business’.

In an email to their members in 2023, the BMA called his comments ‘totally unacceptable’ and said there was ‘absolutely no place in the BMA for anti-Semitism’.

It continued: ‘We were not aware of these comments, nor of any anti-Semitic views. Any form of antisemitism is inexcusable.

‘We strive to be a tolerant, diverse and progressive organisation. We want to assure members that we treat anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and discrimination with the utmost seriousness.’

Advocacy group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) called the tweets ‘utterly vile’ and said the decision not to take action against Dr Whyte was ‘another spectacular failure by the medical regulator.’

A spokesperson told Daily Mail: ‘Every week there is some new outrage from the medical regulatory system. 

‘Is there any level of racism against Jewish people that the GMC would consider worthy of actual disciplinary action? If so, we have yet to see it. 

‘Antisemitism is at record highs in our society and regulators are totally asleep at the wheel. Another spectacular failure by the medical regulator.’  

During Dr Whyte’s a three-day hearing, which was held virtually in August, Colette Renton, representing the GMC, honed in on Dr Whyte’s reference to ‘Jew banker goblins’.

Minutes from the hearing show that Ms Renton argued such a term was ‘an extremely reductive stereotype’.

The notes explained: ‘It infers that members of the Jewish community are prevalent in the banking trade. ‘Goblins’ is an antisemitic slur used to stereotype the physical appearance of Jewish people or, alternatively, used to suggest that Jewish people share characteristics with fictional depictions of goblins, such as untrustworthiness or selfishness.’

Ms Renton said that Dr Whyte’s use of such language ‘connotes prejudice and hostility towards Jewish people.’

Regarding his tweet referring to ‘the holohoax’ and references to Nazi language, Ms Renton said ‘an ordinary reader would immediately recognise the language used as antisemitic.’ 

Citing a previous judgment of Mr Justice Chamberlain, she added: ‘The language or imagery of Nazism is often used as a taunt, which deliberately references and weaponises the most painful events in Jewish history’.

Ms Renton said that while it was not suggested Dr Whyte holds antisemitic views, ‘there was a real risk that an ordinary member of the public would interpret his tweets as being antisemitic.’

Both Tweets were found by the investigation committee to be antisemitic, while his social media post pertaining to Andrew Neil was ‘grossly offensive’. 

The notes state that Dr Whyte accepted that his language had been ‘offensive and inappropriate’ in regards to the tweet about Mr Neil, but he denied that he holds antisemitic views. 

A GMC spokesman said: ‘We carried out a full and thorough investigation into Dr Martin Whyte’s social media posts. After hearing the evidence, an investigation committee found his posts were grossly offensive.

‘They decided a formal warning was necessary to uphold confidence in the profession, which will appear on the doctor’s online record for two years and must be disclosed to any potential new employers.

‘A warning is a formal, significant disciplinary action on a doctor’s registration.’

A BMA spokesman said that Dr Whyte would not be allowed to return to represent the BMA ‘in any elected office again’.

A spokesperson said: ‘The BMA takes the conduct of its elected officials and staff incredibly seriously. 

‘To that end Dr Whyte was immediately removed from taking part in any and all BMA business at the time the social media material came to light, and this was followed up with our own internal investigation which made this permanent. 

‘The decision about whether he can continue to practise as a doctor is a matter for the GMC, not the BMA. 

‘However, we have taken the view that he should not be able to represent the BMA in any elected office again. We wish to reiterate that the BMA stands opposed to all forms of discrimination.” 

The latest GMC decision comes in the wake of other medical professionals currently facing tribunal over allegations of antisemitism, including Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, an NHS junior doctor who vowed she ‘would never condemn’ the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Dr Aladwan, 31, is due to appear in front of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to face accusations of antisemitism and creating social media posts littered with praise for terrorist organisation Hamas. 

She was cleared in September of the same allegations after the MPTS ruled her opinions on social media did not amount to ‘bullying or harassment’.

Those posts included a description of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, as ‘a Jewish supremacy cesspit’, Israeli people as ‘worse than Nazis’ and the Holocaust as ‘a concept’.

She has also openly called for Jihad during a protest in London, where she praised armed Palestinian fighters as ‘heroes’ and said Israel should be ‘dismantled’. 

Dr Aladwan was also arrested just days before an MPTS hearing to determine whether the tribunal could go ahead for the second time on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and malicious communication. 

One of the charges, for which she remains on bail, relates to social media messages posted on October 7 ‘which demonstrated support for the Hamas attack on Israel’. 

The trauma and orthopaedics doctor, who is of British-Palestinian heritage, turned up to the hearing in Manchester sporting a necklace with a gold number 7 charm.

A date for her next MPTS hearing has not yet been set. 

Meanwhile, Dr Ellen Kriesels, a consultant paediatrician and clinical lead for community paediatrics at Whittington Health NHS Trust, has been referred for an Interim Orders Tribunal next week after making comments on ‘Jewish supremacy’. 

Dr Kriesels was photographed at several anti-Israel demonstrations earlier this year carrying a placard depicting an Israeli flag surrounded by the words: ‘Rape, steal, cry, kill, cheat, lie.’

Her social media posts on X also include repeated accusations that Jews are ‘supremacists’, while Judaism is a ‘racist, imperialist and genocidal religion.’

In one post dated 25 August 2025, she defended Hamas, claiming that its members are ‘oppressed resistance fighters, not terrorists.’ She also described yellow ribbons, worn in support of Israeli hostages, as ‘a visual sign of Jewish supremacy.’

Daily Mail has contacted the GMC for comment.