Chief Exec of Bolton Council admits £300k grant was a mistake

The chief executive of Bolton Council has admitted that it was a mistake to allow the leader of the council to use emergency powers to make a £300k grant to a law firm.

Cllr Clifford Morris, the Labour leader of Bolton Council, angrily defended his decision to bypass councillors and use emergency powers to give taxpayers' money to ambulance chasers, Asons Solicitors, to refurbish their brand new offices.

Coincidentally, Asons have a disputed £300k tax bill in their accounts although there is no evidence of a link between the tax bill and the amount given to the firm for refurbishment of their offices.

Bolton's UKIP councillors have been leading calls for Cllr Morris to stand down and for an inquiry into what has happened.

The Labour leader of Bolton City Council has angrily defended his decision to use emergency powers to give £300k of public money to a firm of solicitors when confronted by a journalist.

Cllr Clifford Morris used emergency powers to bypass a council vote and make the £300k donation to Asons solicitors to pay for refurbishments to their offices. The firm owns the building which features a pool table, football table and smart TV in every room and their owner, Dr Imran Akram, has boasted on Twitter of buying his 6th Lamborghini in 4 years.

When confronted by a reported for Granada News, Cllr Morris claimed that he had done nothing wrong and would not be standing down. The leader of the UKIP group, Cllr Sean Hornby, has been joined by the Lib Dems and trade unions in calling for Cllr Morris to resign.

New UKIP branch in Bolton

A former Tory campaigner, fishmonger and inventor has launched a brand new UKIP branch in Bolton today.

Geoff Kay campaigned for the Tories in the 2010 election and in doing so realised that it was UKIP that he was closer aligned with, not the vichy Tories.  The losing Tory candidate he campaigned for in Bolton West in 2010, Susan Williams, blamed her loss (by just 92 votes) on UKIP.

Contact details for the new Bolton branch can be found on the UKIP website.