A KIRLEES councillor has been completely exonerated after an investigation.

Labour group leader Clr Mehboob Khan has been cleared by The Standards Board of England.

Clr Khan had been reported to the Board for an alleged breach of Kirklees Council's Code of Conduct regarding comments made about the composition of the council's cabinet.

But the decision not to investigate the matter was made within a week and was welcomed by Clr Khan.

He had questioned the make-up of the ruling cabinet at a council meeting. His comments were reported to the Standards Board by the Tory group as racist.

Clr Khan said: "My comments are always sensible and appropriate, and the Standards Board agrees they were neither discriminatory nor disrespectful.

"The accusation that I was racist towards Liberal councillors of Asian origin is laughable and frankly political correctness gone crazy.

"I have written to Michael Howard to complain about the dirty tricks campaign by Kirklees Conservatives and am considering further action on this matter.

"The Tory complainant has abused the process and wasted taxpayers' money and I now expect a personal apology."

The Lib Dem-led cabinet is the powerful body making almost all the important decisions affecting electors in wards across the Kirklees district.

Clr Khan said the cabinet makeup did not reflect the composition of the council as a whole.

A Standards Board spokesman said: "It was noted that Clr Khan's alleged comments were his observations of the selection process."