UK politics: Second Labour MP suspended by Labour amid offensive messages on WhatsApp group – as it happened

That is it from me, Martin Belam, good evening and Andrew Sparrow will be back in the morning with more politics news

Peter Walker

Here is the statement from Labour on the suspension of Burnley MP Oliver Ryan:

As part of our WhatsApp group investigation, Oliver Ryan has been administratively suspended as a member of the Labour party.

As soon as this group was brought to our attention, a thorough investigation was immediately launched and this process is ongoing in line with the Labour party’s rules and procedures. Swift action will always be taken where individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour party members.

Being suspended from the party means he automatically loses the Labour whip in the Commons.

The Labour MP Oliver Ryan has been suspended by Labour over his membership and comments on a WhatsApp group that featured offensive messages, including alleged racism and sexism.

The party took action against the Burnley MP after the emergence of details about the Trigger Me Timbers group, mainly involving a group of councillors and party activists in Greater Manchester.

MP for Gorton and Denton, Andrew Gwynne, was sacked as a health minister on Saturday and suspended by Labour after he was accused of posting messages containing racist and sexist comments. Ryan was also revealed to be a member of the group, which also featured misogynistic and classist messages.

Earlier my colleagues Josh Halliday, Hannah Al-Othman and Peter Walker reported that the Labour party was told by a councillor about the “vile” WhatsApp group more than a year ago.

The Liberal Democrats have responded to earlier comments by the prime minister’s official spokesperson on the threat of new tariffs from Donald Trump’s US administration, calling on the government not to “tiptoe round the issue.”

Earlier today, after Trump said on Sunday night he was planning to impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said “I haven’t seen any detailed proposals following the reporting overnight, but we will obviously engage as appropriate”. Asked if the UK would retaliate in the event of tariffs being imposed, the spokesperson said that was hypothetical.

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson and MP for Bicester and Woodstock, said:

In the face of Trump’s threats, Ministers should be urgently working with international allies on a coordinated response. The government needs to spell out how it will protect the UK steel industry against Trump’s damaging tariffs. British jobs are on the line. Businesses and workers want to see the government stand up for them, not tiptoe round the issue.

Trade body UK Steel has warned that the imposition of US tariffs on UK steel would be “a devastating blow” to the industry.

UK Steel director general, Gareth Stace, said: “The US is our second largest export market after the EU. At a time of shrinking demand and high costs, rising protectionism globally, particularly in the US, will stifle our exports and damage over £400m worth of the steel sector’s contribution to the UK’s balance of trade.”

Badenoch says UK will ‘lose the future’ if it doesn’t reduce time children spend on social media

Andrew Sparrow

Kemi Badenoch has suggested that children should have less access to social media. She made the comment at the end of a long interview with the Triggernometry, a “free speech” YouTube show and podcast.

She said:

The thing that’s really worrying about social media is the effect it’s having. And I could see the effect that internet, TV, streaming was having on my kids.

Social media, and what it’s doing to people’s sense of self esteem and how they see the world – I think it’s one of the reasons why a lot of young people are so despondent.

I don’t think the UK is a racist country. But now, if you are on social media, you can get lots of horrible stuff from a small number of people, people who aren’t even in our country, and you can start to think that stuff is really bad when it’s not. I think social media colours the view of what the world is really like.

And the addictive side of it – it’s just not for kids. I think that we will lose the future if we don’t minimise the amount of time that they spend on it.

And it is no coincidence that China not just bans Facebook, but it restricts TikTok for Chinese kids. I think they get about 40 minutes, they pump educational programmes through the algorithms, and then they pump junk, or they allow junk to be pumped throught the algorithms, for our kids. That’s very worrying.

Since Badenoch became Tory leader, the party has already called for a ban on smartphones in schools.

But Badenoch is less worried about the impact of social media on adults. Last year she said she was a “huge fan” of Elon Musk because of what he had done for freedom of speech on X.

I need to head off for a meeting now. Martin Belam is now taking over the blog.

The Green party has condemned the Home Office plan to give broadcasters footage of people being deported. Commenting on the proposal, Carla Denyer, the Green co-leader, said:

This Labour government are plumbing new depths with their plan to broadcast footage of people being detained and deported.

Those involved should be searching their consciences to ask if such breathtaking cruelty is really worth it all for the sake of aping the rhetoric of Reform.

The bitter irony is that following Reform to the right on migration won’t win Labour any support – it will only lend legitimacy to Reform’s extreme views. It’s time this government showed a bit of backbone and told the truth – that migration is good for this country.