A FORMER Labour branch chairman is standing for the Greens in the Kirklees elections.

Paul Cooney said he had quit in 1997 because of New Labour's policy shifts.

The former chairman of Paddock Labour Party is standing for the Greens in the new Greenhead ward in the June 10 elections.

Mr Cooney, of Regent Road, Edgerton, said: "New Labour is a Tory party in all but name.

"Look at student tuition and top-up fees, lack of public transport investment, attacks on trade unions, the Son of Star Wars missile system, PFI foundation trusts and - most of all - the growing militarisation of foreign policy, as in Iraq.

"Ordinary members in New Labour are kept out of the democratic process and have little chance of amending Government policies which are at odds with most of their beliefs."

Mr Cooney works in clinical audit for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust and is nationally active in Amnesty International.

He said: "The Green Party is not a single issue one. It joins up social, economic and environmental issues to produce a wide-ranging manifesto that is realistic and sustainable."

Clr Mehboob Khan, leader of the council's Labour group, said: "The local elections are about local issues. Tony Blair is not standing in any ward in Kirklees."