The Labour MP Simon Danczuk charged £5,000 for an interview with a national newspaper in which he discussed intimate text messages he had sent to a teenage girl.
The revelation will see Danczuk – who was suspended by his party over claims he acted inappropriately towards Sophena Houlihan, now 18 – open to further charges that he has been seeking to profit from his growing notoriety.
On Monday the MP for Rochdale admitted to the BBC’s Newsnight programme that he had received £1,100 from a photo agency for pictures taken of him which were subsequently sold to newspapers. He refused to apologise for the arrangement. “I don’t think it’s wrong at all actually,” he said.
The Observer understands that the Sun on Sunday paid Danczuk £5,000 for an interview last weekend in which he described young women as his “achilles heel”, discussed his drink problem, and explained how he came to sex-text the then 17-year-old girl.
He is believed to have struck up a friendship with Houlihan after she contacted him on Facebook. It has since emerged that Danczuk had tried to meet her following the furore, telling her she would be paid a fee if she agreed to be photographed with him.
When asked about the Sun payment, Danczuk said: “I am not talking to the press.”
The 49-year-old is battling to keep his job after a string of damaging allegations in recent weeks which have culminated in his suspension from the Labour party.
Last week the MP, who was instrumental in exposing the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith as a prolific sex offender, was forced to deny an allegation of rape made against him. Danczuk said the allegation, dating back to 2006 and currently being investigated by Lancashire police, was “malicious, untrue and upsetting”.
Labour’s national executive committee is investigating whether Danczuk has brought the party into disrepute, something that could see him expelled.
