The former Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne jumped before he was pushed out as an MP according to a report out today from the Parliamentary Standards Commission
Their report said Gwynne who gave up his seat earlier this year broke the MPs’ code of conduct by significantly damaging parliament’s reputation through writing abusive, discriminatory and insulting messages in a “Trigger Me Timbers” WhatsApp group.
They said that the former Labour minister, should also have had his parliamentary pass revoked
The WhatsApp group contained messages, some of which were posted personally by Mr Gwynne, which referred to members of the public, primarily members of his own political party, in a hostile, abusive, derogatory or offensive way, or which contained casual homophobic, racist, ableist, or other discriminatory language.
It noted that Mr Gwynne had not anticipated that the messages would be made public and The question as to whether the WhatsApp group, which was accessible only by invitation and restricted to close friends and political allies, was “purely private and personal” required consideration because the Code of Conduct does not regulate what Members do in their purely private and personal lives
However the committee said it could not reasonably be considered purely private and personal because “the group was specifically established in support of Mr Gwynne’s reselection as a parliamentary candidate [ … ] and therefore its purpose and creation flow from his parliamentary career and activities i.e. his public life”.
They found r posted personally by Mr Gwynne that refer to members of the public in a hostile, abusive, derogatory or offensive way and that they contained casual homophobia, racism, ableism, or other discriminatory language.
By being part of a group that includes messages posted by others that either refer to members of the public in a hostile, abusive, derogatory or offensive way, or which contain casual homophobia, racism, ableism, or other discriminatory language.
Given their findings they’d have recommended his suspension as an MP.
“We recommend that Mr Gwynne’s former Member’s pass be revoked with immediate effect. Had he remained a Member of the House, we should have been minded to recommend a period of suspension from the service of the House.”
Earlier this year an independent investigator said six councillors have breached Tameside Council’s code of conduct over their involvement in a controversial group after concluding that the councillors were acting in their official capacity by sending messages in the group, as some of the correspondence concerned council business and took place during council meetings.
