The gloves are off in the Heywood and Middleton by-election as Danczuk slams UKIP for 'shameful opportunism'

UKIP election leaflet

The gloves are off in the Heywood and Middleton by-election, even though Labour has yet to decide on a candidate, with UKIP and Labour already trading blows in what looks set to be a very nasty election campaign.

UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall accused Labour of "shoddy politics" over the timing of the by-election, before the late Jim Dobbin has been laid to rest, and now Rochdale Labour MP Simon Danczuk has accused the UKIP candidate, John Bickley, of playing politics with "horrendous crimes" and "insulting the victims of child abuse".

Responding to UKIP’s first leaflet of the campaign that claims Labour betrayed “white working class girls” in Rochdale who were raped by gangs of men, Mr Danczuk said this “shameful opportunism” demonstrated complete ignorance of child abuse.

“This is a national problem affecting councils run by all political parties,” he said. “We’ve seen grooming gangs in Oxford, in Peterborough and in Rochdale when it was run by the Liberal Democrats so this is a really ignorant and desperate attempt to win some votes.

“They have nothing to offer for the victims of abuse, nothing to say about how we face up to years of failure across the country to protect children. They’re just playing politics at a time when the wounds of these events are still healing in our borough.”

Mr Danczuk, who is currently working with MPs across the three main political parties to tackle child abuse, said it wasn’t a party-political issue and everyone should work together to make sure the protection of children was paramount.

He added: “I’m happy to have a debate about tackling child abuse with UKIP but silly name calling is not going to make children safer.

"I have a track record of campaigning to stop child abuse and our borough does not need pathetic posturing from UKIP politicians who arrived yesterday.”

The decision as to who will represent Labour will be taken by local Labour Party members this (Monday) evening - and it is understood, much to the anger of some members of the local party, that whilst there are other candidates it will be a straight fight between two national Labour Party favourites, ex BBC Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly and Byron Taylor, the National Trade Union Liaison Officer for TULO (the Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation).