A sacked Labour minister’s vile and sexist WhatsApp messages have been recorded by police as a non-crime hate incident.
Andrew Gwynne was dismissed as a health minister over the messages, including one in which he joked about hoping a non-Labour voting pensioner would die before the election.
He also made antisemitic slights and “jokes” about a constituent being “mown down” by a truck.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed: “We have received a small number of complaints relating to publicised messages allegedly from a WhatsApp group.
“A non-crime hate incident has been recorded and we are in contact with our parliamentary liaison as part of our initial inquiries.”
Non-crime hate incidents are when a crime has not been committed, but police perceive an incident to be motivated by hostility or prejudice.
The Home Office has come under fire over their use. Police were also accused of an “appalling” attack on free speech last year when they began an investigation into Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson over a tweet.
In November, the Home Office promised to review how police record non-crime hate incidents to ensure they are “proportionate” and support free speech.
The Government’s Chief Whip also confirmed he was meeting another Labour MP involved in the group chat.
Oliver Ryan, the newly elected MP for Burnley, has already apologised for failing to challenge some of the offensive jokes sent in the WhatsApp chat.
Home Office minister Angela Eagle told Sky News on Monday: “My understanding is that the Chief Whip will be seeing [Ryan] today.
“There is an ongoing investigation into the entirety of that WhatsApp group. Andrew Gwynne has been administratively suspended.
“That kind of comment is not acceptable, so the Prime Minister has taken a very strong stance straight away on all of this as soon as it came to light.”
Mr Gwynne apologised for what he described as “badly misjudged comments” and said sorry “for any offence I’ve caused”.
Mr Ryan, 29, described some of the messages as “completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them”.
He added: “I regret not speaking out at the time, and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong.”
“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. I will co-operate fully with the Labour Party’s investigation.”
