Second Labour MP admits role in WhatsApp group

Oliver Ryan under investigation after Andrew Gwynne firing

- DAVID MADDOX

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan is being investigated by the Labour Party over "unacceptable and deeply disappointing" comments in a WhatsApp group.

Mr Ryan confirmed he was a member of the WhatsApp chat for which Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne was sacked as a minister and apologised for some of his own comments which he "deeply regretted and would not make today".

The chief whip will be speaking with Mr Ryan and "no action is off the table", a government source said.

Mr Ryan, who is gay, appeared to mock a fellow Labour MP over his sexuality in exchanges in the WhatsApp group called Trigger Me Timbers, the Daily Mail reported.

The newspaper does not name the MP being mocked in the group and notes he has never discussed his sexuality publicly and is not known to be gay.

Mr Ryan, who became an MP last July after serving as a Tameside councillor, is also said to have used an offensive nickname to refer to local Labour leader Colin Bailey.

"Between 2019 and early 2022, I was a member of a WhatsApp group created by my MP and former employer, Andrew Gwynne," Mr Ryan said in a statement posted on X/Twitter.

"Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them. I regret not speaking out at the time, and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong did not see every message, but I accept responsibility for not being more proactive in challenging what was said.