Keir Starmer under pressure to kick out a dozen Labour figures caught up in vile WhatsApp scandal as 2nd MP apologises
SIR Keir Starmer is under pressure to boot out a dozen Labour figures caught up in a vile WhatsApp scandal.
The PM sacked health minister Andrew Gwynne and suspended him from the party after abusive messages emerged from a private chat.
Mr Gwynne’s posts included anti-Semitic slurs, mocking a pensioner and joking of a constituent being “mown down” by a truck.
But as a second Labour MP, Oliver Ryan, was revealed to have been in the group, Tories called for the PM to take action against other officials involved.
Burnley MP Mr Ryan was listed as a member along with Mr Gwynne’s wife Allison, a local councillor in Tameside, Gtr Manchester.
Labour refused to say yesterday if Mr Ryan will be suspended from the party.
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The Labour MP for Burnley yesterday apologised for the comments he made in the shock WhatsApp chat and said his messages "were completely unacceptable", in a statement.
Mr Ryan said: "I did not see every message, but I accept responsibility for not being more proactive in challenging what was said.
"I also made some comments myself which I deeply regret and would not make today and for that, I wholeheartedly apologise."
He added: "Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them.
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"I regret not speaking out at the time, and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong."
Mr Ryan - who was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in July - said he had been a member of the group between 2019 and early 2022.
During that period, he was a councillor on Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said it shows Labour may still have a “very serious problem with anti-Semitism”.
He said: “That is a very serious remark, and if the Prime Minister doesn’t take action against everyone in that group very quickly, we know that there is still a problem in the Labour party.”
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook admitted an investigation could see more Labour heads roll.
He said the PM had shown “if any other Labour MP or minister falls short he will act to uphold the highest standards in public office”.
Mr Gwynne, MP for Gorton and Denton, said he regretted his “badly misjudged comments” and apologised for any offence caused.
Mr Ryan has been approached for comment.
