“SOMETIMES you have to have a s*** sandwich and you have to deal with it.”
The image may seem graphic but the sentiment sums up the feelings running through the people of Denton towards its MP, Andrew Gwynne.
People who feel ‘betrayed’ by the man who grew up in the town after the shocking revelation of the Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp group.
Those who read comments posted in it like ‘joking about hoping a pensioner constituent died before the next election, one man being described as a ‘Grade A w***er,’ others being referred to as ‘crackpots’ along with other alleged anti-Semitic, sexist and racist slurs.
Those who are awaiting an explanation and an apology.
Now the people of Denton, who the MP has served since 2005 in Denton and Reddish and now Gorton and Denton, have had enough.
Dozens joined a ‘rally’ yards from his constituency office on Wednesday, April 23, with banners reading ‘Andrew Gwynne quit now,’ and ‘Trigger us a by-election.’
Put simply, they want him gone and for ‘betrayed’ Tony Moran, chair of the Victoria Park Community Centre, there is no coming back.
He said: “It’s cut this. Very, very deeply. If I saw Andrew, I’d say, ‘Hang your head in shame.’
“No matter how you dress it up, it was just wrong and when I read about that Trigger Me Timbers, I couldn’t believe it.
“And if he thinks he’s coming back, he must be deluded, because he’s toxic now as an MP. Nobody will vote for him now.
“I’m still a Labour Party member, I have been for 56 years, since I joined aged 18 and I opposed Michael Foot, I opposed Jeremy Corbyn.
“If I’m in the tent, I’m having my say but I supported Neil Kinnock and Tony Blair.
“But what Andrew’s done, he’s created a cult and if you’re not in that cult, he doesn’t answer you.
“If you look at his Facebook page now, there’s no comment section. So what do you do? It’s like, ‘I only want to hear what I want to hear.’
“Sometimes you have to have a s*** sandwich and you have to deal with it.”
As more than 100 people, many of whom from the age groups targeted by the Trigger Me Timbers group, gathered to voice their call for Gwynne to quit, Mr Moran told them of his amazement there was, ‘not even an apology.’
He added: “If they get away with it. It’s us that are to blame.”
Despite being suspended for about two months after he was sacked as a health minister by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Gwynne is still sitting as an Independent MP.
And any claims that may come out regarding mental health just will not wash.
Mr Moran added: “Everybody in the life goes through a dark patch, don’t they?
“If he’s saying, ‘I’m mentally ill,’ I’d be the first to say, ‘Right, how can we help you? You know, what can we do?’ If he’s using it as a card. It’s too big an issue.
“You can’t be flippant with that term because I’ve got guys at the bowling club who live on their own, who are suffering deep, deep depression, because they’re on their own.
“We don’t play until 12 o’clock but I said, ‘Come at half nine, tidy up, pick the leaves up, have a brew, have a laugh, you know.
“People come here and they go, ‘I’m glad to get out of the house.’”
While the Trigger Me Timbers group has affected parliament, with Mr Gwynne and Burnley MP Oliver Ryan, who was a councillor for Audenshaw at the time of the messages – including a reference to an activist as ‘Colin C*mface’, suspended, several Tameside councillors are too.
Eight representing Denton – including Mr Gwynne’s wife Allison and former leader Brenda Warrington, Audenshaw’s Charlotte Martin and a second ex-leader, Ged Cooney, are sidelined while being investigated by Labour.
Placards reading ‘Bulldozer Brenda quit now’ and ‘Labour Team Denton South. No morals. Quit now,’ were brandished.
And Mr Moran’s sympathy is in short supply as he told The Correspondent: “No matter which way you look at it, it’s just not acceptable.
“Some of the comments that were made, people who were quoted were Jack Naylor, George Newton, Clarie Reid and Brenda Warrington. What the guy from Stockport put on there was nasty.
“I’ll tell you what, if you hear someone in a pub talking like that about people, you say, ‘Hey, you know, it was just nasty.’
“I feel betrayed. I helped every one of them councillors at some point.
“And Colin in Audenshaw, he’s helped us out. He’s got a very simple approach to life, and he helps you.
“But the way they spoke about him, the c*mface comment. You can’t talk about people like that.
“However, we’re in a state of nothing at the minute. Gwynne’s being investigated by the Labour Party. Tameside Council are like a rabbit in headlights.”
The Correspondent has approached the Labour Party for clarification on the investigation into the Trigger Me Timbers group and how long the investigation is likely to last.
We have also approached Mr Gwynne, who deeply regretted his “badly misjudged comments” and apologised for any offence caused.
He said: “I’ve served the Labour Party all my life and it was a huge honour to be appointed a minister by Keir Starmer.
“I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can.”