to think that if I shared an explicit picture of myself with a stranger and then they used that to blackmail to release client information, I would be sacked?

[cakeorwine]

I guess people know what we are talking about.

William Wragg: Jeremy Hunt praises MP's apology over dating app incident - BBC News

If you send an explicit picture of yourself to a stranger, you are asking for danger.

If I did that and I was blackmailed into releasing personal information on other people, I would be sacked,

But hey, it's an accident. Nothing to see here.

And as for MPs who then were contacted by a stranger and then sent their own explicit pictures, what is there to say?

It never ceases to amaze me how utterly stupid some high profile men (and it is usually men) can be, getting themselves into these ridiculous situations without stopping and thinking about the potential consequences. It's like the second they get a hard on, all their brain cells fall out of their ears. Pathetic.

I don’t think this falls under the category of victim blaming. At best, he’s been stupid, careless and brought this on himself.
In reality, he’s been negligent and ignorant of security protocols and procedures.
Remember, he is an MP. Him and his ilk are the ones who create/sign-off on policies that forbid this very behaviour in certain civil servants and public sector workers.

I don't understand how this is not gross misconduct, against Code of Conduct for MPs.

An incident with a young teenager in a youth organisation I was part of doing a similar thing (without disclosing other's personal details) was expelled from the organisation due to 'conduct unbecoming.'

One rule for the little people, no rules for others.

I think gay men sending dick pics on Grindr is just basically how that app works.

I'm not sure a gay man should be judged for doing what many gay men do. Straight women will see sending explicit pics very differently, I think.

The person who used those pictures to blackmail him is obviously a criminal, and Wragg was foolish to give into the blackmail rather than reporting it to the police.

Some of the newspapers are praising him for "confessing" !!!!! It absolutely takes the piss

Just Googled it to make sure… not they’re not. They work WITH the police who are allowed to make arrests. I want the best counter-terrorism eyes to lead this and I think it’s pretty obvious that’s what I meant.

Leaving this thread MY GOD you bUt aKtUaLlY people love to argue. 😂

Awfully bad luck if this was the first time he had accidentally taken a photo his balls and accidentally send it to someone. Bless him.

Absolutely ridiculous.
I was watching an ex Tory minister discuss it on sky news this morning saying how he's been so brave to say he was wrong and how hes had the 'guts' to own up to it.
So basically its okay to be weak and pathetic as long as you acknowledge that afterwards (when you were caught anyway). Every one is rotten.

He should be removed now. He only owned up when one of the other MPs reported it.

@noblegiraffe If taking pictures of your penis is necessary for a dating app, I would think that as an MP you might need to seek out an alternative, especially when this 'innocent activity' leads to you revealing other people's personal details instead of revealing this supposedly normal communication activity.

Yes, fair enough. I’d be up for another by election tbf.

Maybe someone he’d been messaging on a dating app, getting on well with, had a chat to and (unwisely) shared an explicit pic. It’s stupid but it’s hardly worth the moral outrage.

I don’t care who he shared explicit pictures with as long as it was consensual. I care that he then allowed himself to be blackmailed into sharing the details of other people. He absolutely should be fired for that gross lack of judgement. As for the fact that two of those contacts then sent their own explicit pictures to this blackmailer without ever having any clue whatsoever about who or what he was, I want to be surprised but I’m not. Appalling lack of judgement.

And I don't much care about the dick pics. I do care about him disclosing other people's confidential information.

what more do you want?

I would want an MP to have the common sense and moral decency not to send an explicit photo of himself to a total stranger. I would want an MP to have the courage to immediately report a threat of blackmail, and not capitulate to the blackmailer's demands.

Wragg is a victim of his own stupidity and weakness, and clearly not fit to be in a position of power.

It's only OK for the male MP's to be sexual in any way too, remember

Sorry OP, no hard feelings just your home office comment did make me laugh 😬

Dont worry, UK police have a strong Counter Terrorism Unit that works closely with other agencies (ie security services) so saying the police are investigating doesn’t mean it’s being sidelined. Have a good eve.

I have worked in child protection for nearly two decades. Not on the same level, but I know there will have been some unhinged individuals over the years who would absolutely make my life hell if I was careless in the way I use social media, let my address be out there etc. So I have always been really mindful of this. Also if I behaved on a way MPs these days seem to think they can get away with I would be struck off and would never work again.

Welcome to the world of the wealthy white male in the UK in 2024

Just about sums up the standard of (some) of the people who are getting elected these days - absolutely zero judgment.

Its not the sex stuff - that’s always gone on - but who in their right mind sends that kind of photo to a stranger?

The fundamental issue that most sensible, genuinely talented people, wouldn’t touch politics as a career with a barge pole.

Yanbu. Heard this on the news today and was just thinking what is going on. If you’re going to do stuff like that and it’s your must do kink surely you can do it anonymously. It’s ridiculous. Who does that under their actual name. No sense

Someone must have the nickname Willy Waggler now, surely?

@Hagpie

Improve your google skills.

www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Home-Office-Short-Guide1.pdf

Marina Hyde has nailed it I think.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/05/mp-blackmail-william-wragg-tory-apology-rishi-sunak

he may be a victim but he also has victims ie the people whose personal info he leaked

Sending dick pics on Grindr is a reasonably normal activity for gay men. It might not be to your personal taste, but that is irrelevant. Would it have made any difference if he had met him first? Probably not, many people have been honeytrapped in person over the years.

The person who blackmailed him was a criminal.

Giving out the other phone numbers was foolish and irresponsible. But Wragg was a victim of blackmail.