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Monday, 4 January 2016

MP Simon Danczuk denies rape allegation made against him

Simon Danczuk, MP for RochdaleImage copyrightReuters
Image captionMr Danczuk said he would co-operate fully with any inquiries and was confident his name would be cleared

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk says a historical rape allegation made against him is "malicious, untrue and upsetting".

Lancashire Police confirmed it had received a report of a rape allegation dating back to 2006.

A spokesman said: "We are in the very early stages of an investigation and inquiries are ongoing."

Last week the MP was suspended by the Labour Party after he admitted sending lewd texts to a 17-year-old girl.

Responding to the rape allegation, Mr Danczuk said: "These claims are malicious, untrue and extremely upsetting.

"The police have not been in touch with me but I will co-operate fully with any inquiries and am confident my name will be promptly cleared."

Resignation calls

He has faced sustained calls for him to resign following the separate matter of the text messages he admitted sending to teenager Sophena Houlihan.

A small group of people staged a demonstration outside his constituency office on Monday.

However, Mr Danczuk, who blamed a "drink problem" for the sexually explicit messages, told the BBC he has no intention of standing down.

The embattled MP has also admitted receiving £1,100 from a photographic agency that sells pictures of him to tabloid newspapers and magazines.

Speaking to Newsnight, Mr Danczuk defended the arrangement with FameFlyNet.

He said it was a properly declared payment for "media advice and [to] give ideas about what they might or might not do."

He added: "I don't make any apologies for it."

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