Another contentious issue has forced veteran trade unionist Vincent Morrison out of the race to run on the People's National Party (PNP) ticket for North West Manchester in the next general election.

Morrison, who is president of the PNP-affiliated National Workers Union was, on Sunday, scheduled to square off with Mikael Phillips - son of political veteran Dr Peter Phillips - and political worker Patrick Crawford.

Morrison confirmed that he had withdrawn from the race but said, in keeping with a promise to the Secretariat of the PNP, he would not be commenting on the matter at this time.

Date issue

PNP General Secretary Peter Bunting would not say whether he had received a letter from Morrison.

However, it is understood that Morrison wrote to Bunting, expressing his intention of dropping out of the race because the contest was being held on a Sunday.

In the letter to Bunting, Morrison reportedly complained that he had raised the issue of the date for the conference in previous correspondence to the general secretary but had not received a response.

He said that, in light of this, he had no option but to withdraw from the race.

However, insiders claim Morrison opted out because he was not gaining any traction in the PNP-dominated constituency.

Phillips, 37 and Crawford, 54, are seeking to replace Dean Peart, who has held the North West Manchester seat since February 1989 and has decided to exit the political arena after five consecutive victories.

The count-off is scheduled to take place at the Mile Gully Primary School on Sunday, starting at 10 a.m.