FORMER Bury North MP James Frith has apologised to his successor James Daly after making a number of false accusations about the Conservative MP's voting record.

Mr Frith, who was Bury North's Labour MP between 2017 and 2019 before losing his seat to Mr Daly by just 105 votes, wrote on Facebook and Twitter that on June 22 this year the Tory MP voted against a "new minimum sentence for rape, against making it easier for rape victims to give evidence and against criminalising street sexual harassment."

The comments refer to the controversial The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which cleared the House of Commons by 365 votes to 265 in June.

In an amendment to the bill, Labour proposed a statutory minimum sentence for rape of seven years – but the move was blocked by Conservatives.

Labour’s new clause 87 would also have given courts the power to jail people for up to two years if they publish the identity of a sexual offences complainant, amid concerns over the level of fines issued under existing law.

In a statement posted on his social media channels, Mr Frith, who now works for leading public relations firm, Atticus Communications, said: "On June 23 2021, I posted two messages on Twitter and Facebook concerning Mr James Daly, the Member of Parliament for Bury North.

"The posts stated that Mr Daly voted on June 22 2021 against a new minimum sentence for rape, against making it easier for rape victims to give evidence and against criminalising street sexual harassment.

"This was incorrect. On June 22 2021, members of the Public Bill Committee voted on the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill. Mr Daly is not on the Public Bill Committee and so did not vote at all on June 22 2021.

"I apologise to Mr Daly for any distress I have caused as a result of my erroneous posts regarding the vote on June 22 2021.

"I believe that scrutiny of those in public life is integral to a healthy democracy. So too is accuracy. And there are too many instances when errors or mistakes are not owned up to and instead are buried so I am happy to provide this clarification and to set the record straight."

Responding to Mr Frith's apology, Mr Daly issued a statement on his Facebook page.

He said: "Since I was elected as your Member of Parliament, some Labour Party politicians based in Bury have attempted to smear my character with distortions, misrepresentations and on occasions untruths with no basis in reality.

"I am grateful for the apology from Mr Frith but it took far too long to come and I hope no further action will need to be taken in the future to address these issues.

"I am elected to represent everyone within Bury, Ramsbottom and Tottington and I will work with any local politicians who share my vision to improve the lives of all our fellow residents.

"We should concentrate on these joint aims and work together. I hope this will now happen rather than false statements, misinformation and smear campaigns."