Labour member bailed after arrest over Westminster ‘honeytrap’ plot
A man arrested over a honeytrap plot targeting Tory politicians has been released on bail.
The man, aged in his 20s, was held in Islington, North London on suspicion of harassment and offences under the Online Safety Act yesterday.
Scotland Yard said the individual had now been released until a date in late September and ‘the investigation remains ongoing’.
It came after senior Tory backbencher William Wragg admitted in April to giving his colleagues’ phone numbers to a suspected scammer he met on gay hook-up app Grindr.
An investigation was launched after it was suggested that at least 12 men in political circles had received unsolicited messages.
The former MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester said he had been targeted by a suspected honeytrap plot, admitting to ‘chatting to a guy on an app’ and exchanging pictures. He later quit the party and is standing down at the election.
MailOnline understands that the man arrested has had his Labour membership suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
Senior Tory backbencher William Wragg admitted in April to giving his colleagues’ phone numbers to a suspected scammer he met on gay hook-up app Grindr
The former MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester said he had been targeted by a suspected honeytrap plot, admitting ‘chatting to a guy on an app’ and exchanging pictures. He later quit the party and is standing down at the election.
Fellow Tory Dr Luke Evans called for a full review of Parliament’s system of investigating incidents reported by MPs after he was also targeted.
Mr Wragg admitted he gave colleagues’ phone numbers to someone on a dating app amid fears that intimate images of himself would be leaked.
The Hazel Grove MP said he was sorry for his ‘weakness’ in responding, and resigned from his role leading the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee, and chose to surrender the Conservative whip.
The unknown scammer is said to have used the aliases ‘Charlie’ and ‘Abi’ while sending flirtatious messages to attempt to coax MPs and other figures in political circles into sending explicit pictures.
A Met spokesman 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 and has since been bailed until a date in late September.
‘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.’
