Simon Danczuk: 'Miliband is more of a toff than Cameron'

Rochdale's MP has launched a strongly worded assault on his party's leadership, claiming Ed Miliband is seen as "more of a toff than David Cameron" by voters.

Simon Danczuk claimed Labour had been hijacked by a "liberal elite" from London which had refused to tackle issues including immigration, and the party's poll ratings showed "we're getting something wrong".

The Rochdale MP said Mr Miliband will "cost me votes" on May 7 because of his unpopularity with the electorate, claiming voters would prefer to go for a pint with the Prime Minister than the Labour leader.

Mr Danczuk criticised the leadership over the handling of Mr Miliband's decision to pose with a World Cup edition of The Sun.

Mr Miliband apologised after Labour figures in Liverpool expressed anger at his decision to be pictured with a copy of the newspaper.

He suggested the party would "undoubtedly" have chosen a different leader in 2010 if it had been aware of the anti-politics mood of the country.

He said the "north London elite" view of the world "just doesn't play in Rochdale, Rotherham, Runcorn or anywhere else beginning with an 'r' outside the M25".

Mr Danczuk later insisted that the comments in the interview did not fully reflect his views and blamed them on "feeling emotional" after a "very difficult day".

In a series of Twitter messages he said: