February 08, (THEWILL) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has approved the immediate removal of Andrew Gwynne as health minister over a series of unfriendly WhatsApp messages including anti-semitic comments.
Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, was stripped of his role as minister and also suspended from the Labour Party
A report by the Mail said Gwynne posted messages in a WhatsApp group called Trigger Me Timbers, which he shares with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials, and at least one other MP.
The MP reportedly made anti-semitic remarks questioning if someone named Marshall Rosenberg was “too militaristic and too Jewish” and asking if he was “in Mossad”.
Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said suggesting someone with a Jewish name was an Israeli spy agent “feeds to an enduring anti-Semitism trope of Jews being infiltrators.”
Gwynne also reportedly wrote in one message that he hoped a 72-year-old woman would soon have “croaked it” after she asked a councillor, who shared the message in the group, about her bins.
“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,” one of the messages read.
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.”
Also, a Labour Party spokesperson confirmed, “Andrew Gwynne has been administratively suspended as a member of the Labour Party. We are investigating comments made in this WhatsApp group.”
Gwynne is also alleged to have made racist comments about Diane Abbott’s historic appearance as the first black MP at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Meanwhile, Gwynne has said he regretted making the “badly misjudged” comments.
In a post on X, Gwynne wrote, “I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offense 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.”
