21 February 2025 , 18:46
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The Labour MP who was dismissed over offensive messages sent in a WhatsApp group chat is being investigated by the Parliamentary standards commissioner.
MP Andrew Gwynne, who was sacked as a health minister earlier this month, sent sexist, anti-semitic and ageist messages in the chat, which included other Labour MPs.
Mr Gwynne, who is now sitting as the Independent MP for Gorton and Denton, is listed among the allegations under investigation by the commissioner, specifically for "actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its Members generally" according to the Parliament website.
The investigation was opened on February 18 2025, the entry states.
In the group chat, Mr Gwynne shared the posts with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, all based on the outskirts of Manchester, according to the Mail.
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 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 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??"
Mr Gwynne said: "I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I’ve caused. I’ve served the Labour Party all my life and it was a huge honour to be appointed a minister by Keir Starmer.
"I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can."