William Wragg honey trap scandal is ‘extremely troubling’ says minister

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Explosive revelations {that a} senior Conservative MP was concerned in a Westminster honeytrap sexting scandal are “extremely troubling”, a minister has mentioned.

Vice chairman of the 1922 committee William Wragg admitted he had leaked colleagues’ numbers to a person he had met on the homosexual relationship app Grindr, after changing into involved concerning the energy the recipient had over him after sending intimate footage of himself to the consumer.

Treasury minister Gareth Davies mentioned the state of affairs was “incredibly troubling and very serious” however didn’t say if the occasion could be taking any formal motion in opposition to the MP.

Talking to Sky News, Mr Davies mentioned Mr Wragg has “rightly apologised for the action that he took” and urged anybody who felt that they have been being blackmailed to “go to the police immediately”.

Westminster has been rocked by the brand new revelations after Politico revealed that employees throughout the home, which embrace MPs, members of their employees, and a political journalist, have been later despatched unsolicited flirtatious texts from senders calling themselves “Charlie” or “Abi” in a suspected spear phishing assault. Spear phishing is a kind of focused on-line sting.

Speaking to The Times, the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee mentioned he offered the contact particulars to the unknown quantity after he feared the person had “compromising things on me”.

It is understood that two MPs responded by sending an specific picture of themselves, with the scandal now the topic of an investigation by Leicestershire Police.

The drive mentioned it had acquired a grievance of “malicious communications” in opposition to a parliamentarian after plenty of unsolicited messages have been despatched to a Leicestershire MP final month.

Mr Wragg, 36, who is homosexual, advised The Times: “They had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people”.

“I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn’t. Then he started asking for numbers of people.

“I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn’t work now.”

The MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester added: “I’ve hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I’m mortified. I’m so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt.”

Politico initially reported on the scandal, revealing that MPs have been despatched late-night texts from an unknown sender, who claimed to have met them years in the past in a bar.

Soon afterwards, they have been despatched an specific picture and requested to reciprocate. While many have been mentioned to have blocked “Charlie”, The Times reported that two MPs did reply with an specific picture of themselves.

One former MP advised the BBC that he had been focused, with an individual referred to as “Charlie” sending him an specific picture after being contacted on WhatsApp on 11 March. “The fact that somebody tried to and that their intent behind it was probably to do harm is really worrying,” he mentioned.

MPs throughout the House have expressed concern concerning the revelations. Labour former shadow minister Jess Phillips questioned why an MP would ship “nude images”, whereas her colleague Rosie Duffield requested why somebody would “give out colleagues’ phone details without their permission”.

The new claims are stoking renewed fears round espionage and focused foreign-state assaults on the UK democratic system.

In March the UK slapped sanctions on China after it accused state-backed hackers of finishing up two “malicious” cyberattacks, together with one on Britain’s election watchdog and one other on Conservative politicians.

In September 2023, a researcher at Parliament was arrested below the Official Secrets Act, amid claims he was spying for China. The Sunday Times reported that the researcher had entry to safety minister Tom Tugendhat and international affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, amongst different high-profile folks.

Tory MP and staunch China hawk Bob Seely advised Newsnight that he suspected the sting to be from a international state, stating that it was “crude enough to be the Russians,” however that “the Chinese tend to be more sophisticated.” He added: “I’m hoping [Wragg] hasn’t handed over my number. It sounds like a gay honey trap.”

Former Conservative chief Sir Iain Duncan Smith additionally advised the Daily Mail that the assaults have been probably Russian and urged authorities to extend safety: “We’ve been slow to protect people…the government and security services have got to get on with it.

“This is an assault on parliamentary democracy but everyone is scared stiff of calling out foreign agents”.

Mr Davies refused to say whether or not the occasion was opening a proper investigation into the most recent revelations from Mr Wragg, telling Sky News:

“Well, there’s a police investigation that’s already been launched. And that’s right that that happens. In addition, the speaker has announced that the parliamentary security department are also going to be investigating this and it’s right that that takes place. I will say that there are very robust procedures and resources to members of parliament to protect us against a variety of different threats, including cyber security threats, and that will remain the case for a long time.”

Mr Wragg was approached by the newspaper after MPs and different parliamentary figures confided in one another about their considerations and their suspicion of his involvement. The Independent has approached Mr Wragg for remark.