Trigger Me Timbers: Labour’s ‘Toxic Culture’ The Rot Continues

A Return of the Nasty Party

Second Labour MP suspended: Burnley MP Oliver Ryan suspended by Labour over messages on WhatsApp group…

Sir Keir Starmer is struggling to get a grip on the snowballing WhatsApp scandal that has forced an apology from a second MP in his Party. This comes with the further resignations of councillors Claire Reid, Jack Naylor and George Newton, who all represent Denton wards over comments made in the same chat group.

A spokesperson for Tameside Labour said: “Following reports over the weekend of messages shared in a historic WhatsApp group, councillors Reid, Naylor and Newton have decided to step away from their executive duties at Tameside Council whilst an investigation by the Labour Party is underway.”

Burnley MP Ryan, 29, said he was a member of the WhatsApp group between 2019 and early 2022, when he was a councillor on Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.

He was elected as an MP in July last year.

“Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them,” he added.

Now the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to widen the investigation into inappropriate messages reportedly shared in the chat, which has already led to the sacking of former health minister Andrew Gwynne.

Transparency comes from behind the encrypted WhatsApp chats and closed-door meetings, where Labour’s mask of progressive politics has slipped again. The “Trigger Me Timbers” group reveals not just individual failings but the wholesale abandonment of principles that Martin Forde KC warned about in his damning report. Once again, Labour demonstrates it learned nothing from its past—except perhaps how to better hide its prejudices.

The latest suspension of MP Oliver Ryan following Andrew Gwynne’s sacking from government and suspension over offensive WhatsApp messages reveals how quickly progressive politics can descend into reactionary behaviour behind closed doors. Their “Trigger Me Timbers” group chat demonstrates the gap between public pronouncements and private conduct.

Gwynne’s messages particularly expose this hypocrisy. His messages reveal a disturbing pattern of casual racism, misogyny, and contempt. His alleged comments about Diane Abbott—dismissing her historic parliamentary moment as a “joke” because “it’s Black History Month”—strip away any veneer of Labour’s commitment to diversity and representation.

The racist dog whistles are unmistakable. Questioning someone’s Jewish identity with comments like “sounds too Jewish” and provocatively asking “Is he in Mossad?” demonstrates a deep-seated prejudice that goes far beyond “misjudged comments.”

Most telling is the visceral disrespect for constituents. Gwynne’s suggestion to tell a resident to “fuck your bins” and hope they’ll have “croaked it” before the next election reveals a political class that sees voters as inconveniences rather than the very people they’re meant to serve.

Labour’s response—administrative suspensions and performative investigations—rings hollow. These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader cultural malaise that the party leadership refuses to genuinely confront.

The party that once claimed to champion social justice has become nothing more than a hollow shell, where progressive values serve as mere window dressing for the same old power structures.

Britain deserves better than this cynical charade. The choice between Labour and Conservative has become meaningless—both parties now operate from the same playbook of contempt, where public service has been replaced by self-service. The only difference? Labour performs its prejudices behind closed doors while preaching progress in public.

The transformation is complete: in adopting the Conservatives’ economic model, Labour inherited their moral bankruptcy too. The nasty party hasn’t just returned—it’s multiplied.

Don’t you just get sick of it…

Paul Knaggs