ANOTHER row between UKIP and Labour has erupted over leaflets used in election campaigns.

Joan Johnson, chairman of Bolton UKIP, has accused Labour of spreading a ‘blatant lie’ that if elected they would introduce charges for patients to visit their GPs.

The claim was made ahead of the Harper Green by-election on October 16, won by Labour member Susan Haworth. UKIP’s Jeff Armstrong came second.

Cllr Haworth said they sourced the policy from an article written by UKIP health forum member and surgeon Jonathan Stanley in a 2013 blog, which stated UKIP would “Allow mutual providers, including GPs, to charge a flat fee to see non-emergency cases.”

The article was tweeted by UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who described him as a health spokesman.

But UKIP said following their conference, held in late September, the party made it clear they were against introducing any charges for GP visits.

Ms Johnson said: “The party is committed to defending our NHS and our health policies demonstrate this.

“Our policies are often misrepresented by the other parties.

“UKIP specifically opposes plans to charge patients for visiting their GP. Yet, in recent leaflets distributed in Bolton by the Labour Party, it was stated that we support ‘Charges to see your GP’.

“This was, of course, a blatant lie - but it is what we have come to expect.

“The other parties are so worried about UKIP that they seem to want to trawl through old articles or quotes looking for something someone may have said.

“If they took the trouble to look at our actual published policies, they would see what we really stand for.”

Other policies included in the leaflets — including scrapping paid maternity leave, holiday entitlements, increased privatisation of the NHS, raising income tax and abolishing laws that protect human rights — have not been challenged by Bolton UKIP.

Cllr Haworth, who will defend her seat in May 2015, said UKIP’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall has regularly spoken of fundamental changes to the NHS.

She said: “In the busy world of politics it’s not possible to check another party’s policies every month.

“In defence of Labour, UKIP now have a bit of a record for quite regularly changing their policies.

“Even though they say they are absolutely clear on that policy, we don’t have confidence in it.

“There are very senior figures and people in charge of policy — deputy leader Paul Nuttall included — who seem to change their policy particularly in relation to the NHS very regularly.

“We did our very best. At the time we made those statements it was in the full belief it was UKIP policy.”

A leaflet delivered by UKIP supporters in the same by-election was investigated by police after it claimed ‘Labour controlled Bolton’ was being inspected in relation to child sex abuse.

UKIP stood by the leaflet, which Labour blasted as “malicious and untrue”.

After the complaint police advised UKIP not to deliver any more leaflets with that wording.