Rishi Sunak, the MP implicated in the Westminster honeypot sexting scandal, has voluntarily quit the Conservative Party rather than be kicked out, he has defended himself.

William Large announced his decision on Tuesdayone day after he resigned Served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party 1922 Committee and Chairman of the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

He later admitted in The Times that he gave the phone numbers of some of his colleagues to people he met on dating apps.

The MP for Hazelgrove, Greater Manchester, who will now sit in parliament as an independent, has gained the support of a number of MPs and ministers after apologizing in a newspaper, in which he said the man had “compromising things” with him, He was “scared”.

But others were outraged and called on the Prime Minister to withdraw the whip.

Politics Live: Labor won’t refund union donations over Sky News report

Read more: Who is William Wragg – the MP at the center of the sexting scam scandal?

Now that Mr Large acted first, the Prime Minister has come under criticism, with a senior Conservative Party official telling Sky News: “Rich was so weak that Mr Large decided he had to sack himself.”

Labor also joined in the attack, with the party’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden saying it was “yet another indictment of Rishi Sunak’s weakness”, adding, The Prime Minister “puts party management first every time – but he can’t even do it properly and that’s not the way to run a country”.

But Mr Sunak appeared to claim he wanted to let the police investigate before taking any action against MPs.

The Prime Minister told LBC: “[Mr Wragg] He has made it very clear that he has apologized for what happened and accepted responsibility.

“Police investigations are ongoing and it is important that we address these matters in due course… It is important that we allow police investigations to proceed smoothly and this is also a reminder of the importance of this, particularly in public life, where they Will handle unsolicited messages.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Follow Sky News for all the latest news from the UK and around the world

click here

Asked whether not removing the whip was a sign of weakness, Sunak added: “If people want to judge me on that, they can judge me, that’s fine, I accept that.”

Scotland Yard said it was investigating reports of a so-called “honey trap” scam after it emerged that at least 12 men in politics had received unsolicited messages, raising security concerns.