MP Chris Green wades into debate on whether Bolton should leave Greater Manchester

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

For the eight years Chris Green has been a Conservative MP in Bolton, the borough has helped make up the Greater Manchester combined authority led by a Labour mayor.

And going back much further than that, it was 1974 when Bolton left Lancashire for administrative purposes to become part of Greater Manchester under the Local Government Act.

So where does Bolton West Mr Green, who was elected in 2015, stand on the debate about whether Bolton belongs in Greater Manchester or should return to the historic county of Lancashire? Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. The MP grew up in Liverpool and describes it as a 'great Lancashire town' in reference to it being part of the administrative county of Lancashire along with Manchester until the local reforms came in half a century ago. Hear the full interview with Bolton West MP Chris Green on The Northern Agenda podcast Last week, Bolton councillors debated calls for the borough to leave Greater Manchester - and acknowledged Bolton’s Lancastrian heritage - after a petition with more than 3,000 names supporting the move was handed in.

Speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast, Mr Green said: "We are in Lancashire. The 1974 settlement never erased the character, the nature, the geography of our historic counties, those historic counties are still our actual counties. "And I often refer to Greater Manchester as the Greater Manchester administrative district, because all of our admin, its paper clips and pens and biros are important. "That's where I see the identity of Greater Manchester at that level, Lancashire is so much more important. "So in terms of working with other boroughs in Greater Manchester, I'm comfortable