IN Monday's edition, December 3, there was a short, insignificant paragraph stating that Bolton Council's ruling Labour group would hold a meeting to officially back the idea of an elected mayor.

This follows on from George Osbourne's announcement on November 3, apparently backed by all 10 of the Greater Manchester regions councils, which will give politicians greater control over billions of pounds of public money.

Am I the only person in Bolton or even Greater Manchester who rejects the idea of a closer relationship with Greater Manchester and the idea of an elected mayor, a further very expensive piece of equipment paid for by us? Only two years ago the people of Manchester voted against an elected mayor.

This is evidence of the fact that if you don't get the right answer the first time, don't ask the question again, just do it. What about democracy? What happened to that?

Quite apart from my personal feelings about this, in a nutshell I am not a Mancunian and have no desire for any further involvement in this direction, this is too much of an innovation for our councillors and government to put through without consulting the local electorate.

Wake up Boltonians before it's too late and we have some celebrity running a 'council, or 'county' we have no wish for with a budget of billions of pounds.

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