The latest revelations surrounding shamed Methodist minister and former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers leave Bradford Council in a very uncomfortable position.

Mr Flowers stood down as a Bradford councillor in 2011 and, at the time, Mr Flowers himself and the Council’s ruling Labour group said quite categorically that it was because of time pressures as he juggled his local authority work with commitments to the bank.

However, the Council was yesterday forced to issue a statement which said the real reason he resigned was because of pornographic material found on his laptop when he handed it in for servicing. Unsurprisingly, there have been accusations of a cover-up and widespread condemnation from other political groups.

For Mr Flowers, the latest revelations further besmirch a reputation and career that was already in tatters. For the Council, and in particular the controlling Labour group, they leave some very difficult questions, which so far have not been answered.

The first of which must be why did the Labour group support a version of events relating to Mr Flowers standing down that was clearly false? Although the true reason was not disclosed publicly, did they make the bank aware of the ‘inappropriate content’ that was found on his laptop? If not, why not?

And, if the Co-op was made aware of this misuse of public equipment, why did the bank allow him to remain in such an important position?

It is clearly not acceptable that the Labour leadership has refused to comment on these matters. They owe Bradford a full explanation as to why this sordid and shameful misuse of equipment paid for by our Council Tax was swept under the carpet, allowing Mr Flowers to continue in other public and responsible roles until he was caught out in further misdemeanours.