EXCLUSIVE
SEVERAL Tameside councillors are set to be allowed back into the Labour Party as an investigation into the now infamous Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp group concludes.
But two – George Newton and Jack Naylor – are believed to have been expelled.
A total of 10 sitting members were sidelined as an investigation into the ‘vile’ messages posted was carried out.
Now Denton South Cllrs Newton and Naylor are thought to have been kicked out, with ward colleague Claire Reid being handed a six-month suspension – which appears to have been served as she is listed on Tameside Council’s website as being part of the Labour group.
Denton North East’s Cllr Allison Gwynne – wife of the town’s MP Andrew – is also said to have been given a similar punishment – but she is also listed as a Labour Party member.
Ward colleague Cllr Vincent Ricci is likely to be handed a formal warning, along with Denton West’s George Jones and Brenda Warrington.
Cllr Denise Ward is set to be completely cleared but former leader of Tameside Council, Cllr Ged Cooney, is still waiting to hear what will happen after he was suspended – for reasons other than the Trigger Me Timbers group.
Audenshaw’s Cllr Charlotte Martin has resigned her Labour Party membership since her suspension.
The fate of Andrew Gwynne is not yet known but Burnley’s Oliver Ryan, a councillor for Audenshaw when the comments were made between 2019 and early 2022, is said to have received a six-month suspension from his party membership.
In February, when the group was exposed, Mr Ryan said: “Some of the comments made in that group were completely unacceptable and I fully condemn them.
“I regret not speaking out at the time and I recognise that failing to do so was wrong.
“I didn’t see ever 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.”
The Correspondent understands formal proceedings relating to Mr Gwynne may take several months – awaiting the conclusion of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Report, as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is linked with standing in Gorton and Denton constituency in future.
Cllr Ricci has been a vocal critic of the way he and Cllr Ward were portrayed during the investigation in Trigger Me Timbers.
“I’m disgusted that Denise and I have been treated like this,” he told Denton North East Luncheon Club in February. “At the moment, we’re Independent councillors through no fault of our own
“I’ve been getting disgusting hate mail on my phone and there are people going around Denton saying, ‘All the councillors who were on it should be suspended.’
“Well, there are 14 on that group. Denise and I being two. When it was set up on January 2, 2019, by Cllr Claire Reid, we were told we had to be on it.
“And the reason why we were was when we were working in our ward – activities, sharing discussions at meetings, leafleting, campaigning, Christmas cards – so we joined it.
“We were on it for all the right reasons, then it started turning nasty and we didn’t like what we saw.
“The response to that is we get suspended and I’m absolutely livid.”
Trigger Me Timbers sparked uproar, both locally and nationally, after it was exposed.
Protests on the doorstep of Mr Gwynne’s constituency office saw people who feel ‘betrayed’ by the man who grew up in the town voice their opinions after reading 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.
Tony Moran, chair of the Victoria Park Community Centre, told The Correspondent: “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.
“Sometimes you have to have a s*** sandwich and you have to deal with it.”
Mr Gwynne, who was sacked as public health minister following the group’s revelation, said in a statement: “I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I’ve caused.
“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.”