A scandal involving a 'Westminster honeytrap' plot has embroiled Tory MP William Wragg, with allegations of sexting and inappropriate behavior coming to light. Senior political journalist and BBC correspondent Henry Zeffman were among those targeted by the scam, which involved a persona named 'Abi' using a phone number to initiate contact. Warnings about this number began appearing last spring and continued until two weeks ago. The plot also targeted attendees of the Lib Dem and Labour conferences, with the scammer using Grindr and WhatsApp to fish for gossip and intimate photos from an account messaging from Islington. Ex-minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns revealed she was targeted in the same scheme, expressing outrage at Wragg for sharing MPs' phone numbers on Grindr. Critics, including Ben Habib and Julia Hartley-Brewer, have condemned Wragg's actions as 'exceptionally inappropriate', questioning his judgment and calling him a 'traitor' to his colleagues and country, and calling for his resignation. The scandal has sparked a broader conversation about security, privacy, and the responsibilities of public officials.
The BBC’s Henry Zeffman was targeted in the Westminster WhatsApp phishing plot Listen to his experience on the latest #BBCNewscast…
NEW story from @AgnesChambre and I on how the Westminster catfishing messages were targeted at attendees of the Lib Dem and Labour conferences. We have evidence that a Grindr account, which was fishing for gossip, was linked to the WhatsApp messages https://t.co/0u1bRNs8by
NEW: How Westminster WhatsApp ‘honeytrapper’ targeted party conference season: “It was almost like they were actually there...It was like they were able to work out who was at [the] conference and who wasn’t." https://t.co/VIed7cnSbV
The William Wragg scandal is grimly fascinating. An MP was dumb enough to send dick pics to a scammer. But many are downplaying it. They say he suffered from depression. Some have called him ‘courageous’. We need better MPs, says Tim Black https://t.co/LbVaHAdGX1
Enjoying the new genre of “I was targeted by the Westminster honeytrap” articles, principally because lobby journalism runs on FOMO and so many people who weren’t targeted will be secretly devastated they weren’t chosen by whichever spy ring was running this.
"Creeped out" and "violating" - how BBC correspondent Henry Zeffman was caught up in Westminster honey trap https://t.co/FYrobxeAG3
Julia Hartley-Brewer says being gay should not be a “get out of jail clause” for MP William Wragg after his involvement in a ‘honeytrap’ scandal. “You are a traitor - not just to your colleagues, but to your country!” @JuliaHB1 https://t.co/WFOpOzJIoD
Tory MP caught in 'Westminster honeytrap' guilty of 'exceptionally inappropriate' behaviour - minister https://t.co/qitmXgsg0x
NEW: At least six Lib Dem conference-goers fear they were targeted by the Grindr honeytrap plot last year. An account messaging from Islington requested gossip and intimate photos of MPs. However unlike Will Wragg they saw through the phishing exercise https://t.co/ch6mDfWeLS
📺 ‘Hypocrite of the 21st Century: William Wragg!’ Watch this week’s FULL Sunday Sermon now: https://t.co/7hIrB0DMXH https://t.co/kZOjhOIVNl
'The man is incompetent! A first-class idiot…he should be thrown out of Parliament.' Ben Habib brands William Wragg 'a plonker' after the Tory MP has been caught up in a sexting scandal. https://t.co/7EvlBsB9u5
Ex-minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns reveals she's been targeted in Westminster sexting honeytrap amid fury at William 'Toe Wragg' after he gave MPs' phone numbers to a man he met on dating app Grindr https://t.co/u39Qz5OJpw https://t.co/H3Kqcx6Mic
📺 Hypocrite of the 21st Century: William Wragg! “The double standards! The hypocrisy knows no bounds. Truly unbelievable.” https://t.co/dMtPi5oIsW
Very good piece by @HarryYorke1 on the Westminster honeytrap, and the cartoon I drew on the subject #honeytrap #spearphishing https://t.co/hdUoNyQsxZ https://t.co/l92osxo9qR
Richard Tice's Sunday Sermon: Congratulations! We have a new nominee for hypocrite of the 21st century https://t.co/leaB6BIClc
Hypocrite of the 21st Century: William Wragg. “You told other people to resign when they demonstrated a lack of judgement…” 📺 Richard Tice’s Sunday Sermon 👇 https://t.co/DxG52EuVQZ
Hypocrite of the 21st Century: William Wragg Still not resigned, despite spending his MP career telling many others to resign. 📺 Watch Richard Tice’s FULL Sunday Sermon 👇 https://t.co/ZXdy9OxsVH
'Biggest hypocrite of the 21st Century?' | Richard Tice on the Wragg MP honeytrap sexting scandal @TiceRichard https://t.co/10nPKGuBr9
🇬🇧 MP Sex Sting Going On For A Year ▫Warnings about the phone number used by "Abi" - one of the scammer's personas - started to appear last spring, and continued until two weeks ago ▫@mikeysmith ▫https://t.co/ysfPzm7N9U #frontpagestoday #UK @thesundaypeople 🇬🇧 https://t.co/MojCatB1ar
A senior political journalist has said that he was an attempted target of the Westminster honeytrap plot that snared Tory MP William Wragg https://t.co/1fotJ06j39