Senior staff and politicians at Bradford Council have been accused of “passing the buck” over the cover-up about the Reverend Paul Flowers.
Last night questions continued to be asked about who knew adult material had been found on Mr Flowers’ computer, and why they had not flagged up concerns to other institutions he was involved with.
Conservative group leader Glen Miller said he had been left with “no confidence in any of them” and again called for a full independent inquiry into who knew what when Mr Flowers quit as a Labour councillor in 2011.
Coun Miller said: “I think it is quite clear people are trying to pass the buck – that’s from senior officers to politicians.”
But it is understood no members of the Labour Party in Bradford will face any internal disciplinary action over the matter.
Mr Flowers resigned immediately after “inappropriate but not illegal” adult content was found on his Council computer in September 2011. The reason given at the time was work and family pressures, and the truth was only disclosed by the Council this week.
Mr Flowers, who quit as chairman of the Co-operative Bank in June this year, has also been accused of incompetence during his chairmanship of the now-troubled bank and inappropriate expenses claims at a drugs charity, among other matters.
Opposition councillors have been asking why Bradford Council’s Labour-led administration had failed to flag up his background earlier.
Those who say at the time they had not been told that adult material had been found on Mr Flowers’ Council computer include the Methodist Church, for which he worked as a minister in Bradford, Lidget Green Primary School, where he served as a governor, and the Labour Party leadership, which appointed him to a business advisory group.
On Thursday, Bradford Council confirmed that chief executive Tony Reeves knew at the time the real reason why Mr Flowers had resigned.
But a Council spokesman insisted its senior staff had done nothing wrong, that they took “immediate action” to inform the authority’s then-leader, Ian Greenwood, when the adult material was found on Mr Flowers’ computer, and that his resignation meant no further disciplinary action was required from them. Any further action would have been a matter for Mr Greenwood, the Council said.
The current Council leader, Councillor David Green, has also this week admitted there were “legitimate questions” over how the administration of the time handled the matter, but said as it was before he became leader, he could not answer them.
Yesterday, Coun Miller said Mr Greenwood, who is no longer a councillor, Labour chief whip Councillor Sher Khan and Labour deputy leader Councillor Imran Hussain all had questions to answer.
He said any disciplinary matters in his own party would usually be dealt with not only by the group leader, but also by the deputy leader and chief whip.
He said: “Their leadership at the time was Ian Greenwood, Imran Hussain and Sher Khan, and I’m sure major political parties go on the same lines.”
Mr Greenwood remained unavailable for comment yesterday, while Coun Khan (Lab, Little Horton) declined to comment.
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