A Labour minister has been sacked and suspended from the party after messages were exposed in which he said he hoped a pensioner who did not support him would die before the next set of elections.
Andrew Gwynne, who was a health minister, was also accused of writing a series of other messages containing racist and sexist comments. They included apparent antisemitic remarks and demeaning comments about Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister.
Gwynne, 50, is alleged to have made the comments in a WhatsApp messaging group with other local party figures.
Keir Starmer sacked Gwynne on Saturday after his party was presented with the messages by the Mail on Sunday.
A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people. He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case.”
The Gorton and Denton MP’s alleged messages include one in which he joked that he hoped a 72-year-old woman would soon die after contacting her Labour councillor about her bins.
“As you have been re-elected, I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections,” she wrote.
When the letter from the resident was shared in the WhatsApp group, Gwynne wrote a suggested response: “Dear resident, fuck your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs.”
His reference to “all-outs” refers to local council elections in which the whole local authority is up for election. In many cases, only a third of a council faces elections each year.
Among the other messages, Gwynne is alleged to have said someone “sounds too Jewish” and “too militaristic” from their name. He also asked: “Is he in Mossad?”
He is also said to have made comments about both Diane Abbott, the veteran Labour MP, and Rayner.
In 2019 in the WhatsApp group, called Trigger Me Timbers, Gwynne is alleged to have said support for Abbott’s historic appearance as a black woman at prime minister’s questions was a “joke”, apparently adding that her appearance was “because it’s Black History Month apparently”.
In March 2021, when Rayner faced criticism for claiming wireless headphones on parliamentary expenses, Gwynne reposted a tweet by a so-called parody account that referred to the incident and related it to a sex act.
Gwynne said on Saturday evening: “I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I’ve caused.
“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.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “Andrew Gwynne has been administratively suspended as a member of the Labour party. We are investigating comments made in this WhatsApp group in line with the Labour party’s rules and procedures.
“Swift action will be taken if individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour party members.”
