Second Labour MP faces sanctions over offensive WhatsApp group messages
A Labour MP is to meet with the government chief whip to decide on any sanctions over his membership of a WhatsApp group that featured racist, sexist and other offensive comments, a minister has said.
Oliver Ryan, the MP for Burnley, has already apologised for failing to challenge some of the comments made in the group, which included a group of Labour councillors and officials, as well as Andrew Gwynne – another MP.
Gwynne was sacked as public health minister and suspended from the party after his own comments came to light on Saturday.
In a statement on X, Ryan said he regretted some of his own comments on the group, and while he did not see every message on the group, 'I accept responsibility for not being more proactive in challenging what was said'.
Angela Eagle, the Home Office minister for border security, told Sky News some of the comments in the group dated back years.
She said: 'My understanding is that the chief whip will be seeing [Ryan] today. There is an ongoing investigation into the entirety of that WhatsApp group. Andrew Gwynne has been administratively suspended. That kind of comment is not acceptable, so the prime minister has taken a very strong stance straight away on all of this as soon as it came to light.'
Asked what the potential sanctions might be for not speaking out when others made offensive comments, Eagle said: 'I think that's a matter for the chief whip to decide when he talks to the MP in question today, and I think also the investigation is will be about context – about who said what, when, and it will give the individuals the chance to explain themselves.'
According to the Mail on Sunday, which uncovered details of the group, called Trigger Me Timbers, Gwynne made a joke about someone with a Jewish-sounding name being 'in [Israel's intelligence agency] Mossad', as well as offensive comments about Labour MPs Angela Rayner and Diane Abbott.
He also joked that he hoped a 72-year-old woman who complained about her bin service would die before the next local elections, and that a campaigner for cycle lanes would be 'mown down' by an HGV.
Gwynne apologised for what he called 'my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I've caused', saying he understood the sanctions he faced.
In his own apology, Ryan, who became an MP in July, said he was a member of the WhatsApp group from 2019 to early 2022, when he was a councillor in Tameside, Greater Manchester, and Gwynne was his MP and former employer.
'Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them,' he said. 'I regret not speaking out at the time, and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong.
'I did not see every message, but I accept responsibility for not being more proactive in challenging what was said. I also made some comments myself which I deeply regret and would not make today and for that, I wholeheartedly apologise. I will cooperate fully with the Labour party's investigation.'
A government source said told PA News: 'Oliver Ryan's remarks were unacceptable and deeply disappointing. While a Labour party investigation is already under way, the chief whip will also be speaking to him and no action is off the table.'
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