Labour Party member suspended after Westminster honeytrap arrest
A Labour Party member has been suspended after being arrested in connection with the Westminster honeytrap scandal.
On Wednesday morning, the Metropolitan Police said a man in his 20s had been arrested in Islington, north London.
In April, reports emerged that approximately 20 Westminster figures were targeted with flirtatious messages and explicit photographs from senders using the aliases “Charlie” or “Abi”.
William Wragg, the former Tory MP, admitted that he shared colleagues’ phone numbers with a man he met on Grindr because he was “scared” the man “had compromising things on me”.
Labour has declined to comment.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “On Wednesday June 26, police executed a warrant at an address in Islington. A man was arrested on suspicion of harassment and committing offences under the Online Safety Act. He was taken into custody, where he remains.
“The arrest relates to an investigation being carried out by the Met’s parliamentary liaison and investigation team following reports of unsolicited messages sent to MPs and others. The investigation remains ongoing.”
‘Miss you in Westminster’
The scandal shook Westminster at the start of April. Mr Wragg gave up the Conservative whip after admitting handing over the phone numbers.
At least 12 men working in and around Parliament, including a serving minister, were targeted in the honeytrap scandal.
In April, Politico reported that victims had received flirtatious messages, and in several instances explicit photographs, in an attempt to lure them in.
It said that on March 11, a serving minister received a message from “Charlie”, who claimed to have previously worked in Parliament, and they had had “flirty” chats. The minister went on to block the number.
On the same evening, another former MP was contacted by someone under the same alias who sent a message saying: “Long time no speak! Miss you in Westminster” and later: “I’m single again, so making the most of the gays in Westminster.”
“Charlie” went on to provide a surname and name of an MP they said they worked for, and sent an explicit photo the next day before being blocked. The Times reported that two MPs had responded to requests from “Charlie” for reciprocal explicit images with photographs of themselves.
Among those targeted was Dr Luke Evans, the Conservative MP for Bosworth, who revealed in a video on Facebook that he had reported the unsolicited messages to the police.
Other victims to have come forward included Henry Zeffman, the BBC’s chief political correspondent. Mr Zeffman said he had received WhatsApp messages from two numbers identifying themselves as “Charlie” and later “Abi Miller” after he had blocked the first.
All MPs and staff received a letter from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, encouraging those who had received unsolicited messages of this kind to contact the parliamentary security team.
Nigel Farage called Mr Wragg’s actions in handing over numbers “abominable” and Nadine Dorries urged Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary standards commissioner, to launch a full investigation into him.
Richard Holden, the Conservative Party chairman, said it was right that Mr Wragg had given up the party whip.
