BOLTON will be one of the main battlegrounds for the fight over Europe. The Referendum Party announced today that it will be fielding a candidate against Bolton MP Tom Sackville at the general election. The news comes on the day Europe went top of the political agenda, as leading Tory Lord McAlpine caused a storm by announcing his defection to Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party on the eve of Conservatives' conference in Bournemouth. Bury solicitor advocate Bryan Slater, 44, will stand for the party in the Tory held marginal seat of Bolton West at the next election.

The party say they will field their supporters in about 550 constituencies where those standing for the major parties have not shown a commitment to a referendum on Maastricht.

But they have been accused of hand picking marginal seats and so far Mr Slater is one of only three candidates announced for the whole of Greater Manchester.

Today former party Treasurer Lord McAlpine fuelled the row over Europe by attacking the the Prime Minister's wait-and-see policy on a single currency as "a philosophy of futility". And he warned that the Conservatives were "almost certain to lose" the election without the promise of a referendum.

"The Prime Minister said we can get out of this whole business on the 59th minute of the 24th hour," he said.

"You can imagine the infuriation there would be in Europe if we did that - it's not a practical option.

"Banks, businesses, all sorts of organisations have to make their arrangements.

"The country needs to know which direction it's going in. We can't say - oh, we'll leave that - this is a philosophy of futility."

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