THE councillor who called Britain a “junior partner” in the Second World War will keep his paid role at Bolton At Home despite a petition calling on the housing association to remove him.

Cllr Kevin McKeon made the comments during a debate about Brexit at a council meeting on January 23.

A video of his speech started circulating on social media days after and a petition calling on him to be removed from his paid role at Bolton at Home has now received more than 600 signatures.

The Labour chief whip who is vice-chair of the housing association defended his comments but admitted they may have been "unwise".

In a joint statement, Jon Lord, group chief executive officer of Bolton at Home, and Tracy Woods, chair of Bolton at Home, said: “As an independent housing association we don’t comment on personal views expressed by elected councillors during council debates or other forums where the discussions are unrelated to Bolton at Home’s work and governance.”