Nigel Farage accuses Andy Burnham of failing to protect grooming gang victims

Nigel Farage is set to accuse Andy Burnham of failing to protect grooming gang victims as part of Reform UK's campaign in Makerfield.

Mr Farage is planning to stop the so-called "King in the North" marching south to seize power in Downing Street.

As part of that, the Reform leader is also set to attack Labour's prospective candidate Mr Burnham for his support for Britain rejoining the European Union.

The Reform leader has now told The Telegraph: “Burnham failed the grooming gang victims and he will fail the people of Makerfield too.

“He would be a disaster for the economy and betray every Brexit voter in the constituency.

"Open Borders Burnham must be stopped.”

Despite launching reviews that exposed serious failings in the handling of historical child sexual abuse allegations, a GMP whistleblower accused Mr Burnham of falling at "the final hurdle".

Maggie Oliver, a former detective constable, accused the Greater Manchester Mayor of overlooking failures still going on today.

"What I saw in Mr Burnham and GMP was a willingness to say there had been huge failures in the past - but when looking at action around failures still going on today, there truly was no duty of candour on display," she said.

"Instead, they turned away. Again. Once again, the voices of those victims and survivors whose voices should have been front and centre of this report were totally silenced and blocked out of the assurance review, making it worthless. The establishment again marking its own homework."

Mr Burnham set up reviews into allegations of child sexual exploitation in Manchester and Rochdale after becoming the area's metro mayor in 2017.

The reviews exposed institutional failings, including evidence of authorities turning a blind eye to horrific abuse perpetrated by predominantly Pakistani men against white girls.

But Ms Oliver claimed the final assurance review - which concluded there had been "significant improvements" in tackling child sex abuse - had not "given survivors their voice".

More than 100 people were eventually arrested following the investigation and multiple convictions were secured.

Mr Burnham would later break ranks with Labour to back a "limited" national inquiry into the gangs to compel people to give evidence - months before the PM confirmed a full probe would follow.

The statutory independent inquiry was announced in June by the Prime Minister, a few months after he accused those who called for one of jumping on a "far-right bandwagon".

Its full investigation into the group-based sexual exploitation of children in England and Wales has now formally started.

Ms Oliver has recently confirmed she will not stand as Reform UK's candidate in Makerfield despite fervent speculation.

The party's candidate selection process is still underway, with Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield councillor Robert Kenyon and home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf among the leading names to stand in the seat.

Mr Burnham last night told the BBC he wants to stand in the by-election, currently set for mid-June, to "save" Labour.

He said the party must acknowledge it has "not been good enough" and "requires a lot of change".

"We've got to see this as a moment to reclaim the Labour Party, to save it from where it's been," he said in a scathing attack on Sir Keir's record in power.

"We can't just carry on as we are."

Rupert Lowe has confirmed that Restore Britain will field a candidate in the by-election after "overwhelming demand" from its local members.

Reform backers have warned his party could split the vote and hand Mr Burnham a route to power, but Mr Lowe has pledged to secure "thousands and thousands of votes" in the seat.

Meanwhile, the Green Party - victorious in February's Gorton and Denton by-election - said its candidate selection was also underway.

Regarding Ms Oliver's criticism, a spokesman for the Greater Manchester combined authority said that Mr Burnham's stage four review had found "clear evidence that Greater Manchester has responded to those historic failings and made real changes", but added: "We are not complacent and we continue to drive improvements across our system.

"Nothing can make up for what happened to the victims of these crimes, but we are determined that they will be listened to and protected, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice."

GB News has approached Mr Burnham for comment regarding Mr Farage's remarks.