Dhe Conservative British MP William Wragg has apologized profusely to his parliamentary colleagues for leaking private information about some of them after he himself became the victim of intimate online blackmail.
Wragg had been looking for homosexual contacts on an acquaintance platform and, as he reported to the Times newspaper, he had sent intimate photos of himself to an internet acquaintance with whom he had arranged to meet. This contact then blackmailed him. Wragg stated, “They had compromising details about me; “They wouldn’t leave me alone anymore.” He was asked for telephone and email contacts of colleagues and gave them “some numbers, but not all”.
Rated as a serious matter
According to several British media reports, twelve cases have now become known in which MPs and other representatives of political circles in Westminster received unwanted WhatsApp messages from unknown people. A former MP told the BBC that he had received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from a contact who appeared as “Charlie”. At first there were general messages like “Westminster misses you,” but then the stranger sent “clear photos.” He then blocked his phone number.
MP Wragg, who announced his retirement from politics two years ago after the next general election, admitted, “I hurt other people because I was weak, scared and ashamed.” Wragg went on to say he apologized profusely for that that his weakness caused harm to others.
Former MP Bob Seely, who himself became the recipient of unwanted messages as a result of Wragg’s blackmail, said on BBC television that this incident was not the first he had experienced. Such contact attempts would probably become “part of modern political life, regardless of whether they are so-called honey traps, cyber attacks or illegal data fishing.” A spokesman for the House of Commons said the events were viewed as a very serious matter. The House of Commons Security Department provides MPs with detailed information and news about security risks and digital security requirements.
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