Honeytrap - malevolent forces at work?

I wonder if the way he’s being let off the hook might be because he’s a smokescreen for a bigger fish?

Iam64

I don’t see Wragg as a victim. He’s a fool and a traitor to give up contact details of colleagues

This. Nothing wrong with being gay, and nothing wrong with being on Grindr (if that’s what floats his boat.)

Silly and reckless sending dic-pics to a stranger though. If he’s that stupid, he probably shouldn’t be an MP.

And that would apply to anyone, regardless of party.🙄

He should go.

Well Boris didn’t eat a piece of cake and everyone calls him the worst names and is ousted. Wragg has the morals of an alley cat, and stupidity beyond belief, cowardly and gives other MPs’ contact details and is hailed as courageous. Give me a break.

Steady on urmston, we’ll be agreeing if not careful

Urmstongran

Well Boris didn’t eat a piece of cake and everyone calls him the worst names and is ousted. Wragg has the morals of an alley cat, and stupidity beyond belief, cowardly and gives other MPs’ contact details and is hailed as courageous. Give me a break.

I think I'm missing something too, Urmstongran!

The man is a security risk and should be removed from office with immediate effect.

Urmstongran

Well Boris didn’t eat a piece of cake and everyone calls him the worst names and is ousted. Wragg has the morals of an alley cat, and stupidity beyond belief, cowardly and gives other MPs’ contact details and is hailed as courageous. Give me a break.

I really can't work this out, Ug. Johnson has the morals of an alley cat and worse. How you can recognise this little failing in one man and not in another is a complete mystery.

Wragg needs to go, too...

MaizieD

Urmstongran

Well Boris didn’t eat a piece of cake and everyone calls him the worst names and is ousted. Wragg has the morals of an alley cat, and stupidity beyond belief, cowardly and gives other MPs’ contact details and is hailed as courageous. Give me a break.

I really can't work this out, Ug. Johnson has the morals of an alley cat and worse. How you can recognise this little failing in one man and not in another is a complete mystery.

Wragg needs to go, too...

I think *Urmstongran’s comment was meant to be a joke MaizieD, you can’t compare the major damage inflicted by Johnson on the country with Wragg’s stupidity and weakness.

I was enjoying the irony in urmston’s comment - not admiring any of Johnson ‘s behaviour. Just saying

Casdon

I wonder if the way he’s being let off the hook might be because he’s a smokescreen for a bigger fish?

He’s known as a snitch and stirrer around Westminster. Theses people know where the bodies are buried. I bet he’s got some bums twitching 😂

… morals of an alley cat

Unkind to describe Wragg in his way. Yes, he engaged in contacting other homosexual men just as millions of others do via Grindr and in the same way. He naively sent initimate photos which lead to him being blackmailed. He’s admitted to being weak and foolish.

He has now resigned as chair of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs committee and has also quit his post as the vice-chair of the 1922 Committee.

Johnson, on the other hand, is a known blackmailer. Read what Max Hastings wrote in 2019 on the subject.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/24/boris-johnson-prime-minister-tory-party-britain

In January 2022, Wragg spoke out in Parliament and went to the police about whips, SpAds and ministers who were threatening MPs who did not support Johnson’s leadership. Watch the video.

news.sky.com/story/police-will-meet-with-mp-who-claims-conservative-critics-of-boris-johnson-are-being-blackmailed-12522217

Why would anyone target Wragg now since he is leaving Parliament at the next election?

Having breached the Nolan Principles, I do think he should resign from Parliament altogether and let the seat be subject to a by-election.

However, I do wonder to what extent leniency is being shown because of Sunak’s delay in calling an election. Some of the younger MPs who are stepping down, have said they hope the election is called sooner rather than later so that they can get on with their post-Westminster lives. Once someone has resigned from a job, I doubt their heart is really in it anymore.

Those who won’t be invited to take sinecure consultantancies or to become part of the lucrative after-dinner speaker circuit will need to find other employment. Wragg had damaged his chances of being offered any kind of job where he will be party to confidential information so the cynic in me thinks the longer he can hang onto his 91K salary the better, hoping the controversy will die down, after which he can start to consider what he does next.

I think the "morals of an alley cat" quote was directed at Boris Johnson actually, with which I wholeheartedly agree.

I’m often amazed at how supposedly reasonably intelligent MPs get themselves into these messes. Is it arrogance, or just sublime confidence that they’re too clever/careful to get caught? Or do they get a kick out of the sense of danger attached to doing something seen as illicit or at least highly unwise?

I won’t post it on here because it’s a bit risqué for some tastes, but Fascinating Aida have a track on YouTube called A Tory MP

‘The fabulous vanity shown by Narcissus,
The devil-may-careness of Bonnie and Clyde’

Just about sums it up.

Have they made one called a Labour MP as well?

Or Liberal?

Sleaze isn't confined to one party although it does seem to be more prevalent amongst male MPs.

Callistemon21

Have they made one called a Labour MP as well?

Or Liberal?

Sleaze isn't confined to one party although it does seem to be more prevalent amongst male MPs.

I don’t think so - but no doubt they will when there’s another party in power, their ire is directed at the people in charge whoever they are. You’re right about sleaze not being confined to one party, it’s everywhere - but in this case, the quote was very apt for the situation I thought.

Oh, I didn't realise it was a new song!

Very apt

No it's dangerous to assume that it's anything to do with political views. It is possible that a party or organisation can create a culture where certain behaviours are acceptable, but I dont think that's linked to a political standpoint either, its happened previously in charitable organisations whose aims were 'noble'.

From what I am told by female friends who use Tinder, sharing explicit images with men they have never met seems to be an accepted part of the courtship ritual now among the straight community. It removes the disappointment if you subscribe to the notion that size is important. If someone is just looking for casual hookups, it probably is.

It doesn’t matter how much time has passed since homosexuality was decriminalised. Many gay or bi-sexual men are not out and, even if they are, they may still enjoy the frisson of risqué behaviour.

Even before the advent of the phone app, dating sites were rife with straight men flashing women and (I’m told) straight women flashing men.

Pornography isn’t new and many people want to be an active part of it. Public figures are still human beings with the same sexual needs but these casual liaisons place them at much higher risk. Wragg doesn’t strike me as someone who did this as some kind of power trip - which is what I suspect lies behind some of the sexual shenanigans in political circles. There's an arrogance in thinking they can get away with it; Neil Parish, for example, watching porn in the Commons.

Wragg succumbed to some moments of weakness and is going to pay a hefty price because - just like every public figure whose downfall come as a result of a sex scandal - that’s what the person is remembered for. Few remember Profumo’s or Thorpe’s political achievements. Certain broadcasters and Hollywood moguls will be remembered for what ended their careers rather than what they achieved during it.

Casdon

MaizieD

Urmstongran

Well Boris didn’t eat a piece of cake and everyone calls him the worst names and is ousted. Wragg has the morals of an alley cat, and stupidity beyond belief, cowardly and gives other MPs’ contact details and is hailed as courageous. Give me a break.

I really can't work this out, Ug. Johnson has the morals of an alley cat and worse. How you can recognise this little failing in one man and not in another is a complete mystery.

Wragg needs to go, too...

I think *Urmstongran’s comment was meant to be a joke MaizieD, you can’t compare the major damage inflicted by Johnson on the country with Wragg’s stupidity and weakness.

It wasn't a particularly funny joke, if that was what was intended and we all know how enormously she admired and supported Johnson (no, I'm not being ironic here, she really did. Just as she loves Trump now...)

Wragg still should go.

In almost any professional role - such as teacher, social worker, TV presenter, and so on, such behaviour - giving out colleagues details to dodgy strangers would be cause for dismissal. Seems like MPs are held to lower standards.

Sleaze isn't confined to one party although it does seem to be more prevalent amongst male MPs.

It might not be confined to one party, Callistemon, but the sheer quantity of relentless sleaze emanating from one particular party over the past few years has been notable.

And perhaps folk need a reminder that Johnson wasn't toppled by a piece of cake but by a party whip who made drunken unwanted sexual advances to other men...

Wragg was a primary school teacher before an MP.
I doubt he will get another post.

annsixty

Wragg was a primary school teacher before an MP.
I doubt he will get another post.

I think that would be unfair. So long as a teacher keeps their private sex life entirely separate from their working life I don't see why they should't be employed, whatever their sexual orientation.

But, for a job in public office requiring a very high degree of security consciousness and discretion Wragg has proved himself to be completely unfit.