Labour faced a sexism row today after men and women were segregated at an Asian party rally.

The meeting organised by the party's Friends of Bangladesh group was held ahead of Thursday's crucial by-election, which Labour is in danger of losing.

Photographs of the event in Oldham West and Royton, where one in five voters is from an ethnic minority, shows Asian men and women sitting in separate rows.

Critics said allowing the sexes to be split up at the party-run event was 'shameful' and accused Labour of 'putting political correctness ahead of equality' in order to win votes.

Before the May election Labour was rocked by a similar segregation scandal when men and women were split at an Islamic centre rally in Birmingham.

Row: Asian men and women clearly sat apart at a Labour-run event in Oldham over the weekend - apart from two white women who sat among the men at the pre-by-election rally

Anger: Many people have taken to Twitter to slam the clear segregation of the sexes at the Oldham event

Previous: A meeting held in Birmingham in May also showed Asian men and women sat separately

'IT'S NOT JEREMY, IT'S THE WEATHER': MCDONNELL SAYS RAIN COULD DECIDE RESULT Labour's chances of holding on to Oldham depend on the weather, John McDonnell has claimed. The shadow chancellor played down suggestions Thursday's by-election were a referendum on the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, and suggested that reaction to him among voters had been positive. He told Sky News: 'I was there canvassing in the pouring rain and the response on the doorstep was pretty good. 'We've got a fantastic candidate in Jim McMahon, local boy, really knows his constituency, people respect him a lot. 'It depends on the weather on the day, it's in December and by-elections are notorious for low turnout.' Some suspect that poor weather could make reluctant Labour voters less likely to turn out to vote. Labour won the Oldham West and Royton seat with a majority of 14,738 in May but Ukip has launched a strong challenge. Advertisement

Labour insiders say support for the party is 'bad' in working class areas of Oldham, with voters furious at Mr Corbyn's opposition to police 'shot to kill' orders, the killing of ISIS murderer Jihadi John and his response to the Paris attacks.

But the party is pinning its hopes on securing support from the Asian community to hold the seat which was won in May with a 15,000 majority.

According to the 2011 census more than 50,000 of the 220,000 population in Oldham are from an ethnic minority.

There have been some reports that some Asian voters have lived in the area for more than a decade and do not speak English - but will vote Labour.

Yesterday's Friends of Bangladesh event was in support of Jim McMahon, who is the party's candidate in Oldham West on Thursday.

Photos of the event, organised by Labour Friends of Bangladesh and attended by the Labour candidate and several high profile MPs, shows men and women were almost entirely segregated.

Only two women sat among the men and both were not Asian.

Labour has denied that people were forced to sit separately based on gender.

Pictures of the event yesterday were tweeted by Debbie Abrahams, MP for neighbouring Oldham East and Saddleworth, and shadow minister for disabled people whose role involves fighting inequality.

John Bickley the constituency's UKIP candidate said: 'Is this really Labour's modern Britain?Where a political event is segregated by gender? This was not a religious meeting where cultural traditions must be respected. But a political gathering.

For a party that claims to be progressive, Labour seems to accept some pretty funny ideas about gender equality if they think them electorally helpful. 'How can it be acceptable in modern Britain that a political party that wishes to represent all the people, and in particular the various communities of Oldham thinks that it's OK to segregate by gender'.

Under pressure: The Oldham West by-election will be the first major test of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership (pictured today)

Clear: Labour have denied that men and women were forced to sit apart at the rally despite photographs like these clearly showing that women sat on their own side of the room

NIGEL FARAGE IN OLDHAM: 'LET'S GET CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY' Nigel Farage has told voters 'let's get control of our country' as he continued his campaign to cause a major by-election shock. The Ukip leader met shoppers and market stall holders in Oldham as he went on the campaign trail for the Oldham West and Royton seat. Mr Farage and his party's candidate John Bickley spoke with shoppers in the Tommyfield Market after a torrential downpour meant that a trip to an outdoor shopping centre had to be called off. Mr Farage told onlookers there was a 'base' for Ukip in the area, and that traditional Labour voters were turning their back on the party. Ukip came second in the constituency in the last general election with 21%. Mr Farage said voters should choose his party because 'we are standing up and saying what they think'. He added: 'Controlling immigration being a very big one, and I think security worries, worries about borders, worries about Isis. There is a feeling amongst old Labour voters that somehow (Jeremy) Corbyn does not represent what they want from a Labour Party. 'We have met two groups of women, they all said the same thing - they all said, 'we have always been Labour but we don't like Corbyn'. They like what Ukip stands for.' Advertisement

Labour today claimed that women were not forced to sit away from men.

A party spokesman said: 'The accusation of gender segregation is absolutely untrue. The Labour party's record on gender equality speaks for itself. Ukip are clutching at straws for something to say in this election because they have no answers to the real issues facing voters in Oldham'.

Internal polling is said to show that Labour could be in danger of losing the seat on Thursday after Michael Meacher's death.

Ukip is targeting the white working class in the town and hope to collect Asian voters who are unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and also keen to leave the EU.

Mr Corbyn was due to visit Oldham on Friday but cancelled at the last minute to deal with the growing crisis in his party over whether to bomb Syria.

Before the May election Labour was rocked by a similar segregation scandal when men and women were split at an Islamic centre.

Senior party figures, including Liam Byrne, Tom Watson and Harriet Harman's husband Jack Dromey, spoke at the event in Birmingham where men sat on one side of the room and women on the other.

Labour has denied that people were forced to sit separately based on gender - even though photographs from the event show that the groups were clearly segregated.

Critics called the decision 'sickening' and claimed that the party was 'selling values for votes'.

Campaign trail: Ukip leader Nigel Farage (left) and his party's candidate John Bickley visit the Tommyfield Market in Oldham today

How Labour has lost a third of its voters since Jeremy Corbyn took over, poll reveals

Labour has lost a third of its voters and its leader Jeremy Corbyn is increasingly losing touch with the people of Britain, a new poll revealed today.

Mr Corbyn's opposition to renewing Trident, pro-immigration and pro-welfare, is putting people off and is 'out of step' with public opinion, YouGov research has found.

Many have said they would rather vote Conservative, Ukip or now don't know who to support.

Flow: A new YouGov poll has revealed that Labour has failed to hold on to a third of its voters and this chart shows some have decided to back the Tories or Ukip or just don't know who to vote for anymore

Labour has only attracted voters from from the Liberal Democrats or Greens since Jeremy Corbyn took over.

It is now populated by staunch supporters or recent left-wing 'converts' to the party.

Expert Ian Warren, who compiled the data for YourGov who spoke to 7,412 British adults, wrote in a blog for the Guardian: 'Jeremy Corbyn is seen as an unpopular leader across almost all demographic groups and leads a party whose voters are increasingly out of step with majority opinion in the country.

'Labour has retained only two-thirds of its own voters. The voters who have deserted the party since May hold views reflecting public opinion. The result is that the Labour vote is now composed of staunch loyalists and recent converts'.

Susan McDonald, 62, from Oldham, said today she would be voting for Ukip on Thursday because Labour was no longer the party of working people.

She added: 'I was brought up to vote for Labour by my parents, because they always said they work for the working classes. They don't any more, they work for themselves, and they work whatever suits them, not what suits the people.'

She added that Mr Corbyn was 'rubbish' and was not looking after the people.

'He hasn't got any respect for the armed forces, when he was at the Cenotaph he didn't bow his head properly. He has just got no thoughts for people in general, it's just himself. You have to look after us people who work hard.