Left on read: Labour's WhatsApp dilemma
Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as health minister over comments posted in a Labour messaging group

"There's a familiar pattern in Westminster these days," said Katy Balls in The Guardian. "An MP writes in haste a message to colleagues on WhatsApp. The contents leak to the press. Then there's embarrassment, a public ticking off or – if really bad – the sack."
This time it's Health Minister Andrew Gwynne facing the fallout. The Mail on Sunday exposed a secret Labour WhatsApp group called Trigger Me Timbers, where Gwynne allegedly posted a crude "joke" about a 72-year-old constituent: "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."
He's also accused of making sexist comments about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and racist remarks about Labour veteran Diane Abbott. Eleven Labour councillors in the group have since been suspended.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scandal 'not so different' from Tory sleaze
The scandal is "grist to the mill" for critics who argue that this government "isn't so different to the Tory sleaze that dominated the Conservatives' final years", said Balls.
"No so-called 'honourable member' of Parliament should even think of some of the sentiments expressed in the leaked messages," said Isabel Oakeshott in The Telegraph. It's "abhorrent to talk about ordinary voters" with such "naked contempt". And sharing such "ugly opinions" suggests a "permissive attitude towards these views" within sections of the party.
'Get off WhatsApp'
The messages certainly "sound shocking with all context removed", said Gareth Roberts in The Spectator, "but they are clearly not what he actually thinks".
Understanding "the lore behind the average WhatsApp chat" would take hours for an outsider. These are exchanges within a "trusted, private circle" that, once public, appear "deranged, unfunny, and appallingly tasteless". If "making horrible jokes in private is a sin, we are all damned".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
That said, if "nobody comes to their senses" on this issue, MPs have one solution open to them: "just stop" and "get off WhatsApp, now".
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
August 9 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include snake oil salesmen, Ghislaine Maxwell's new residence, and more
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistricting
Cartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremes
Talking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Who will win the battle for the soul of the Green Party?
An ideological divide is taking root among the environmentalists
-
Are we facing a summer of riots?
Today's Big Question Anti-immigrant unrest in Essex has sparked fears of a summer of disorder
-
Who stands to gain – and lose – from 16-year-old voters?
Today's Big Question Many assume Labour will benefit but move could 'backfire' if Greens, a new hard-left party or Reform continue to pick up momentum
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?
Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Mortgage reform: is Rachel Reeves betting the house on City rules shake-up?
Today's Big Question Reforms could create up to 36,000 additional mortgages next year
-
Corbynism returns: a new party on the Left
Talking Point Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's breakaway progressive party has already got off to a shaky start
-
How will Labour pay for welfare U-turn?
Today's Big Question A dramatic concession to Labour rebels has left the government facing more fiscal dilemmas
-
Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
Today's Big Question Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?