Grooming gangs: Ex-Labour MP claims former party chairman told him not to raise ‘ethnicity aspect’ to keep votes

"What surprised me more than anything is that I had senior politicians tell me not to mention the ethnicity or religious bias of those perpetrators," Danczuk said.

"They said it would affect the Labour vote. It was quite clear. They were quite clear about that," he added.

In a specific allegation, Danczuk identified Tony Lloyd, then chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, as one of those who cautioned against discussing the issue.

The warning came while Lloyd was campaigning to become police commissioner for Greater Manchester, Danczuk revealed.

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Danczuk also mentioned receiving similar advice from Jim Dobbin, a more senior MP, early in his parliamentary career.

"The second instance where this happened is more significant in my view, because it was Tony Lloyd, who was chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party. That's a very influential position," Danczuk told GB News.

Danczuk explained he first encountered the grooming scandal after becoming Rochdale MP in 2010.

"It was in 2012 that the grooming scandal in Rochdale broke. It was new to me. I wasn't from the area originally and as soon as it broke I called out the ethnicity and religious aspect to this abuse," he told GB News.

He said he campaigned "for three years solid on child abuse issues" including historic abuse and grooming scandals nationwide.

The former MP raised these concerns repeatedly in Parliament despite the warnings he received from senior party figures.

The revelations come as Labour faces fresh controversy over grooming gang investigations.

Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has rejected calls for a government inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham.

The decision has sparked criticism from Conservative figures, with Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick calling it "shameful".

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss labelled Phillips' ministerial title "a perversion of the English language".

In a letter to Oldham Council seen by GB News, Phillips stated it was for the local authority "alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene".

Oldham is now planning to launch its own Telford-style inquiry.