Labour suspends second MP, Oliver Ryan, over ’unacceptable’ WhatsApp messages
Labour has suspended a second MP, Oliver Ryan, over his membership of a WhatsApp group containing offensive comments, the party has confirmed.
The Burnley MP was suspended by the party on Monday after former health minister Andrew Gwynne was sacked over the weekend.
It follows the emergence of offensive comments made in a WhatsApp group called "Trigger Me Timbers."
A Labour Party spokesperson said on Monday: "As soon as this group was brought to our attention, a thorough investigation was immediately launched, and this process is ongoing in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures.
"Swift action will always be taken where individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour Party members."
It follows Greater Manchester Police has said that a "non-crime hate incident" has been recorded after a health minister was sacked over the weekend following comments made in a WhatsApp group chat.
Former health minister Andrew Gwynne was sacked over the weekend after the emergence of offensive comments made in the group.
According to The Mail on Sunday, the MP for Gorton and Denton sent a post saying he hoped a pensioner who did not vote Labour would die before the next election.
Mr Gwynne allegedly shared a letter from a 72-year-old Stockport resident regarding bin collections, who said she did not vote for Labour, but "As you have been re-elected I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections."
The newspaper reports the minister sent an image of the letter to the WhatsApp group and said: "Dear resident, F*** your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs."
Mr Gwynne also is alleged to have made anti-Semitic ’jokes’ about a constituent being ’mown down’ by a truck.
He joked that someone’s name sounded ’Jewish’, saying: "He sounds too militaristic and too Jewish. Is he in Mossad?"
The minister also made comments about MP Diane Abbott, when she stood in for then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister’s Question in October 2019.
He said: "Was David Lammy not available? I’d also take the corpse of Bernie Grant.
"Or Desmond Swayne? Justin Trudeau??"
The Mail on Sunday gained access to the closed WhatsApp group, which was started in 2019.His offensive comments included ’jokes’ about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner performing a sex act.
Gwynne has become the fourth high-profile figure to leave Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government since the party’s election victory in July last year.
His sacking comes after the departures of Tulip Siddiq as Treasury minister in January, Louise Haigh as transport secretary in November and Sue Gray as Downing Street chief of staff in October.
Meanwhile, Oliver Ryan, the MP for Burnley who was elected last summer, has now been suspended.
Taking to X on Sunday, Ryan said: "Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them.
"I regret not speaking out at the time, and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong."
Asked if the Prime Minister expected ministers to call out derogatory remarks in WhatsApp groups, his official spokesman told reporters: "He’s made clear... his determination to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead Government in service of working people.
"You saw the statement over the weekend, and he will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has done in this case."
Asked if ministers should be calling out offensive remarks, the spokesman added: "He set out the expectation of high standards of conduct. Obviously it is up to people to deliver on that."
The chief whip will be speaking with Mr Ryan and "no action is off the table", a Government source had earlier said.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "We have received a small number of complaints relating to publicised messages allegedly from a WhatsApp group.
"A non-crime hate incident has been recorded and we are in contact with our Parliamentary liaison as part of our initial enquiries."
Now, Ashley Dalton, Labour MP for West Lancashire, has been appointed as a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care.
???? Health and Social Care Secretary @WesStreeting today welcomes our Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention @AshleyDalton_MP to the Department of Health and Social Care ministerial team. pic.twitter.com/VgHJexbnZ4
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) February 10, 2025
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