Starmer sacks minister over WhatsApp messages

A Labour party lawmaker said he regretted "badly misjudged" comments after prime minister Keir Starmer sacked him as a minister.

It is the latest bump in the road Starmer's government has hit in its first seven months in power despite a landslide election victory in July last year.

The premier dismissed Andrew Gwynne as a junior health minister as soon as he became aware of the comments, the domestic PA news agency said.

He has also been suspended from the Labour, with a report alleging that Gwynne made anti-Semitic, racist and sexist remarks.

"I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I've caused," Gwynne said on X. "I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken."

Gwynne posted messages in a WhatsApp group which he shares with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, the Mail on Sunday reported.

He also joked about a constituent being "mown down" by a truck, the newspaper said.

In another comment, he said he hoped a 72-year-old woman who asked a colleague about rubbish bin collection would soon be dead.

"The prime minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people," a government spokesperson said.

"He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case,."

In November, Louise Haigh resigned as transport secretary after revelations that she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence before becoming a member of parliament.

Her resignation was the first by a member of Starmer's cabinet since his Labour party won power at the July 4 general election, ending the Conservative party's 14 years in power.

(Agencies)