Labour’s campaign for a vital byelection has been dealt a fresh blow after six local councillors were found to have breached standards rules in a “vile” WhatsApp chat.
Andrew Gwynne, a former health minister, was suspended last year over offensive messages he sent in the “Trigger Me Timbers” group, including one saying he hoped a 72-year-old woman “croaks it” before an election.
Six Labour councillors have now been found to have shown “complete disregard” for standards in public life, the Guardian has learned – including one judged to have made “several remarks that a reasonable person would find racist”.
The findings of a damning independent investigation into the WhatsApp group are due to be considered by councillors next week, less than four weeks before the Gorton and Denton byelection expected on 26 February.
Gwynne apologised again last week for messages he sent as he announced his retirement as the MP for the south-east Manchester seat.
Keir Starmer is facing a challenge from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Green party, which both fancy overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority in what would be a blow to the prime minister.
Starmer’s allies have denied claims that they have sacrificed the constituency to a rival party after Andy Burnham, his potential leadership rival, was blocked from standing for election.
Yet Labour faces another political headache as the “Trigger Me Timbers” controversy resurfaces, potentially reigniting local anger in the week that Starmer is expected to announce the party’s candidate.
A 94-page investigation concluded that one Labour councillor, George Newton, made “several remarks that a reasonable person would find racist” about the Labour MP Nav Mishra.
Another, Jack Naylor, was judged to have made an antisemitic joke when he changed the lyrics of an Elton John song to “And I guess that’s why she hates all the Jews” in a discussion about an unnamed person.
Newton and Naylor have since been expelled by the party but continue to represent Denton as independent councillors.
Naylor will tell councillors his comment was “ill-judged and inappropriate” but strongly contests any accusation of antisemitism. In a written statement, he offered a “full and unequivocal” apology and added: “There is no justification for my involvement, irrespective of any inexperience – I take full responsibility for my actions; and for any offence caused, regardless of my intent, I am truly sorry.”
The damning findings came after a formal complaint about Gwynne and other Labour figures making “disgusting, racist, sexist, homophobic and vile comments”.
The investigation found that Newton “persistently abused and denigrated” people including Mishra, making remarks that “a reasonable person would find racist”.
Newton said he regretted his “childish” language but told the investigation he was making “private jokes on a private messaging platform”. He said he did not believe he had breached the councillors’ code of conduct “because it was a private conversation”.
It is understood that Newton intends to apologise for the messages but will dispute the investigator’s interpretation of the private texts in a group where there was “obviously a power dynamic at play”.
Naylor was found to have made an antisemitic joke and “offensive” remarks about voters, children and politicians. He failed to speak to the independent investigation by the solicitor Linda Comstive, according to her report.
Two others, Gwynne’s wife, Allison Gwynne, and Claire Reid, a former member of Labour’s national policy forum, were suspended for six months for their role in the group.
Reid resigned as a councillor last month, but Gwynne remains a Labour councillor. Two others, including the former council leader Brenda Warrington, were given written warnings but are still sitting as Labour councillors.
The group is facing further censure when the investigation is considered by Tameside council’s standards subcommittee on Monday next week.
The messages caused huge public anger locally, prompting protests and calls for Andrew Gwynne’s resignation. It also threw the spotlight on a local Labour group that some have described as “toxic”.
In one post, Gwynne said someone “sounds too Jewish” and “too militaristic” from their name. He also asked: “Is he in Mossad?”
He also made derogatory remarks about Diane Abbott and Angela Rayner, and joked that a local cycling campaigner should be “mown down” by a lorry. In another, he suggested a local vicar should be “burned on a bonfire”.
Gwynne was immediately suspended by Labour and remained under investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog when he announced his retirement last week, triggering the byelection.
The investigation heard that residents were “disgusted” by the comments about voters but were too frightened to complain for fear of retribution.
A charity worker told Comstive that an elderly Labour supporter, who is neurodivergent, had been left “distraught” after he was called a “terrible name” in the WhatsApp group, which teenagers had since shouted at him in the street.
They said: “People in the community feel that there is no one they can turn to, as there is no local Labour councillor representing them and no Labour MP; they are too scared of having their coffee morning resources taken away or bins not emptied. They have been told if you do not vote for us (ie Labour) you will be dead.”
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