11 Labour councillors and two MPs suspended over WhatsApp group
Eleven Labour councillors were suspended last night as part of the party’s probe into vile comments posted in a WhatsApp group.
Two MPs – Oliver Ryan and Andrew Gwynne – have already been suspended from Labour for messages posted in the “Trigger Me Timbers” group. Keir Starmer also sacked Mr Gwynne from his role as a health minister.
Among the list of suspended councillors are nine Tameside councillors and two from Stockport council. Mr Gwynne’s wife Alison, a Tameside councillor, is among those suspended.
Three of the Tameside councillors also dramatically quit from their roles on Monday after being caught up in the scandal. Claire Reid, Jack Naylor and George Newton decided to “step away from their executive duties”, a statement from Tameside Labour said.
Mr Gwynne was sacked on Saturday night after vile messages emerged from the WhatsApp chat. Among them, he allegedly joked that he hoped an elderly woman would die after she asked about her bins. In a mock reply to the 72-year-old woman he said “F*** your bins”.
Other messages included a racist comment about veteran MP Dianne Abbott and sharing a sexist post about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner performing a sex act. He also said someone “sounds too Jewish” and “too militaristic”. In other alleged messages that were later revealed, Mr described a constituent as “an illiterate r*****” and a fellow councillor as a “fat middle aged useless thicket”.
Mr Ryan, the Burnley MP, admitted making “unacceptable” comments in the WhatsApp chat on Sunday night. He apologised for his offensive remarks and said he regrets making them after it was reported he was a leading member of the group, having posted more than 2,000 messages.
Leaked messages showed Mr Ryan, who is openly gay, appearing to mock an MP and suggest he was gay and call a local labour leader “Colin C*mface”.
