![\"William](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/0CB0\/production\/_133084230_wragggetty.jpg.webp)
<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe chancellor has praised a Tory MP for apologising after he admitted he gave other MPs’ personal phone numbers to someone on a dating app.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Jeremy Hunt said William Wragg had been “courageous” in telling the Times he was sorry for the “hurt” he had caused.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr Wragg told the newspaper he had been “scared” because the individual had “compromising things on me”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It follows reports at least 12 men in political circles received unsolicited messages, raising security concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The men are reported to include a government minister, advisers and political journalists based at Westminster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some had been sent naked images, and two MPs are reported to have responded by sending images of themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr Wragg has not been suspended as a Conservative MP and the party’s whips office – in charge of party discipline – is not commenting, citing an ongoing police investigation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said the force was “investigating a report of malicious communications” that had been made to them last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Metropolitan Police said it was in contact with Leicestershire Police and Parliament’s security team, adding: “We will assess any reports made to us accordingly.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One former MP, who is gay, has told the BBC he was targeted by someone calling themselves “Charlie”, who claimed – wrongly – that he had previously worked for Mr Wragg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “The last part of that message was ‘Westminster misses you\u2026’ and that was basically something that friends usually do say anyway to make me feel better,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “I was starting to feel bad actually. I was embarrassed thinking I’m speaking to someone who knows who I am and I’m trying desperately not to come across as rude.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The next message said: “I’ve just become single so I’m hanging out with the Westminster gays.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The former MP explained he was in a relationship, but further flirtatious messages followed. After “Charlie” sent an explicit image, the former MP blocked him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BBC News has also seen similar messages sent from the same number to a political journalist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The BBC has attempted to contact Mr Wragg, who is standing down as an MP at the general election, for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Speaking to reporters, Mr Hunt said the reports were a “great cause for concern” but Mr Wragg had “given a courageous and fulsome apology”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He added that the reports should be a “lesson” to both MPs and members of the public that they need to be careful about cyber-security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “This is something we are all having to face in our daily lives,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The incident has raised concerns about so-called spearphishing attacks, in which emails or messages are used to obtain an individual’s sensitive information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is unclear who is behind the unsolicited messages. Some MPs have expressed concerns that a foreign power, such as China and Russia, could be involved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has written to MPs telling them it would be “unwise” to speculate, and promising to keep them “updated on developments”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr Wragg, who is vice chair of the influential 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, told the Times said he had sent intimate pictures of himself to a man he met on gay dating app Grindr.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “They had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone,” added the 36-year-old, who has been MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester since 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the incident was “incredibly concerning,” and the police investigation “should be able to take its course”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n She declined to offer a view on whether Mr Wragg, who also chairs the Commons constitutional affairs committee, should resign, adding it was a “question for the Conservatives”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey would not be drawn on whether Mr Wragg should be suspended, adding it was a question for the Tories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He added that he did not believe any of his party’s MPs had been involved in the apparent phishing incidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A House of Commons spokesperson said it took security “extremely seriously” and provided MPs and staff with “tailored advice” to make them aware of risks online.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “We are encouraging anyone affected who has concerns to contact the Parliamentary Security Department,” they added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Published at Fri, 05 Apr 2024 13:14:16 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hunt praises MP’s apology over dating app incident Getty Images By Paul Seddon Politics reporter, BBC News The chancellor has praised a Tory MP for apologising after he admitted he gave other MPs’ personal phone numbers to someone on a dating app. Jeremy Hunt said William Wragg had been “courageous” in telling the Times he… Continue reading Hunt praises MP’s apology over dating app incident<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk-politics","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
‘Concern’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
‘Cause for concern’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
‘Mortified’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
‘Tailored advice’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Related Topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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