Michael Martin (Speaker of The House Of Commons) Should he resign?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8048292.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45761000/jpg/_45761513_michaelmartin226cr_pa.jpg
The Speaker's supporters say he has long been the victim of snobbery and slurs

A no confidence motion in House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin is to be tabled by a Conservative backbencher.

Mr Martin has come under pressure over his handling of the furore over leaked details of MPs' expenses.

Some MPs felt he was more concerned with attacking those who criticised him than responding to public anger.

Tory Douglas Carswell says he has all-party support and will table the motion next week. Labour MPs Paul Flynn and Gordon Prentice say they will back it.

Mr Carswell, a long-time critic of Mr Martin, says he has already picked up more than half a dozen sponsors for his motion.

But he told the BBC he wanted to give MPs the opportunity to go back to their constituencies at the weekend, to understand the public anger about the expenses furore and realise change is needed.

"We need a new speaker with a mandate for radical change to make politicians work for the people," he said.

"I'm not having a dig at Michael Martin because he is anything other than a decent, honest, honourable man.

"I just happen to think he is bad at doing the job of Speaker."

Newport West MP Paul Flynn told BBC Wales: "He hasn't led the House of Commons - he's been too defensive and has actually attacked the whistleblowers. We need someone who is interested in exposing the errors of the past and is willing to introduce new rules."

'Pearls of wisdom'

On Monday, in a statement to the Commons, Mr Martin angrily defended the decision to ask police to investigate where the expenses leak came from.

He rebuked Labour MP Kate Hoey, who said it was a waste of money when police had a "huge" job to do in London, telling her: "I listen to you often, when I turn on my television at midnight, and I hear your public utterances and your pearls of wisdom on Sky News. It's easy to talk then."

He also rebuked Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has long campaigned for greater transparency on MPs' expenses, as "another member who is keen to say to the press what the press wants to hear".

Mr Baker said later he "appeared to be defending vested interests rather than leading us out of this mess".

In further bad-tempered exchanges on Tuesday Labour's David Winnick challenged Mr Martin to apologise for his comments to Ms Hoey.

Mr Martin has been Speaker, the presiding officer of the House of Commons, since 2000.

He has found himself embroiled in some controversy - most recently over the handling of the arrest of the Conservative frontbencher Damian Green and search of his Commons office.

His critics have also questioned his own use of expenses and accused him of not being impartial.

But his supporters say the Glasgow North East MP - a former sheet metal worker - has faced unprecedented snobbery and slurs since becoming Speaker in 2000.

He is also chairman of the Commons committee which held its own five-month inquiry into MPs' expenses last year - many of whose recommendations were rejected when put to MPs.

Labelled by the Tory press as "Gorbals Mick" Do you simply think he is not good enough for the role as Speaker? Or do you think he has been the victim of snobbishness? Or both?
Should he resign or be forced out?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-414554/Gorbals-Mick-clings-Speaker-ease-son-Glasgow-seat.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-516591/How-longer-Gorbals-Mick-cling-power.html
Robed Neanderthal Michael Martin throws tantrum over MPs' expenses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Martin_(politician)

Martin's Glaswegian accent led to his being pejoratively nicknamed "Gorbals Mick" by Quentin Letts, after a well-known working-class district of Glasgow; however, the nickname is inaccurate, as Martin is from the Anderston and Springburn areas of Glasgow and has never lived in the Gorbals.

is there chat on this elsewhere and I missed it?

just post LOL DAILY MAIL 200 times and be done with it

haha i guess it could degenerate into that

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8054140.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8054657.stm live address by the speaker coming up on that page

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3535038973_8d331309eb_o.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/oszrtd.jpg

Shouldn't this be a poll?

I'm going to tell David Cameron on you

this guy has always seemed rubbish

Yes, he's dragged the good name of Springburn through the mud

but he isnae fae the Gorbals

Cameron to propose replacing Speaker Michael Martin with Capital Gold robot DJ Dean Martin.

Let's ask the British people who they want

I vote Tom Watson from West Bromwich East, blogging and keeping us safe from mutant sharks since 2003

http://5secondfilms.com/v3beta/watch/keeping_you_safe

They want teh Susan Boyle!

"She cannae make a more lousy job than them wot's in there now like"

Under-fire Speaker 'to step down'

Michael Martin is understood to be preparing to announce he will stand down as Commons Speaker.

STV reported that he will make the announcement to MPs at 1430 BST - but the report has not been confirmed.

Sky now reporting he's to resign

They want teh Susan Boyle!

Gorbals Susan? No way!

So basically our MPs have taken down the Speaker in order to try and detract attention from something they were all complicit in?

Way to restore faith in our elected representatives, dudes.

I hope resigns immediately because it would really fuck things up if he did!

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=6464&edition=1&ttl=20090519110525

So basically our MPs have taken down the Speaker in order to try and detract attention from something they were all complicit in?

― Enormous Epic (Matt DC), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:04 (1 minute ago) Bookmark

i'm sure mps' hope this will get them off the hook, but i suspect they're wrong. there's probably still a few hundred thousand pages of info still to come out, so they're fools if they think this will draw a line under things.

otoh, martin was basically in charge of the whole secretive, corrupt system, oversaw possibly fraudulent payments to people who had paid off mortgages and was the prime mover in wasting £100,000 of taxpayers' money in trying to overturn the freedom of information act and stop us finding out what they were doing with all our cash. so good riddance all the same.

Can't be denied that he was rubbish

Will he stay on to the next election or will he just stay on til they appoint a new speaker?
And who will be the next speaker? I assume it has to be a Tory this time.

It will be a Tory, and he won't be from the Gorbals either

I'm sure mps' hope this will get them off the hook, but i suspect they're wrong.

I suspect people will say "Well, on the one hand if everyone was getting 'free money' and saying "go on you get some as well, wink wink" to the new MPs after every election, no wonder. Still makes it wrong though!"

I reckons the next one will be a LibDem.

The Speaker is always either government or major opposition party?

I expect he will say he will stand down at the next election. Of course that might put more pressure from the media on brown to call an election, and it will be the government getting the blame from the public for it all, despite tories claiming for moat cleaning etc

As soon as the election is called, David Cameron is going to be surprised about the major kicking he will get from the public about what actual difference he will make.

I'm sure he gives a fuck

That won't happen until a few months after the election anyway. Even Gordon Brown got a honeymoon period.

The Tory leader said that the “political system is paralysed” in Britain and added: “I think the scale of the problems facing Britain – the recession, the debt crisis and above all the political crisis – all point in one direction.

“I think there is now only one way of sorting out the mess and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for there to be an immediate general election.

“The political crisis has been caused by politicians, so I don’t think the politicians alone can solve it. The public must be involved.”

And here's the petition.
http://www.conservatives.com/Campaigns/Sign_for_Change/Petition_Item.aspx

Let's get this fucker in power so we can begin the kicking.

lets not bother having him in power

The Speaker is always either government or major opposition party?

Sir Menzies Campbell is 'the bookies' favourite' according to the Guardian:
Who will be the next Speaker?

He'd be good, providing he doesn't drop off his perch any time soon.

xps
Also on that page a helpful list of "campaigns" so you can keep an eye on what they do once they get in power.

* End the Early Release of Prisoners
* Fair Play on Women's Pay
* Get Britain Working
* Give us a Referendum
* Honest Food
* ID Cards - Labour's Bad IDea
* Keep Our Post Offices Open
* Save our Local Papers
* Save the Great British Pub
* Save Your Local GP
* Sign for Change
* Stop Brown's NHS Cuts
* Support Our Small Shops
* The Maths Taskforce

TBH I don't see much point in prolonging the inevitable right now, with the caveat that if there's another banking crisis I'd rather have Brown there to deal with it than Cameron.

ID Cards - Labour's Bad IDea

oho, i see what they did there. these guys are sharp.

Hmm, so how many of these go *against* the policies they proposed or attempted last time they were in power?

I suspect this would go the same way as BJohnson's policies:

NO MORE TOWER BLOCKS apart from that one and that one and...

i.e.

SAVE OUR HIGH STREET SHOPS!! although that Tesco sounds good, and that one....

If there is another banking crisis he'll distract us with his pledge to keep Little Harpingthorpe's post office open.

Sir Menzies Campbell is 'the bookies' favourite' according to the Guardian

This is the same Sir Menzies Campbell who was heckled and shouted down over his own expenses claims on Question Time last week?

Honest Food

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:n-AoNJGP9CjTcM:http://207.199.174.56/img/aKdSbhjCok_im-a-banana-1.jpg

does Ming have a moat?

He has a lot of vases

to be fair MM's no oil painting

A bunch of cowardly wankers who live and die by tabloid headlines - that's this Government for you.

Is there anybody worth voting for next time?

http://www.conservatives.com/Campaigns/Sign_for_Change/~/media/Images/Branding/Large/SFC_455x207.ashx

http://badcontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/spare-change-9.jpg

Judging by the amount of praise he's been getting from the Guardian, I imagine many a "liberal" is thinking David Cameron is worth voting for next time

By the way, has "UKIP If You Want to" been used as a headline by anyone yet?

Would have been perfect for that Norman Tebbit story

interesting re: UKIP, I agree with a lot of what Farage says, but draw precisely the opposite conclusions from it. Yes, the EU is very corrupt (perhaps even more so than Westminster, who knows?) and yes it does haemmorage money. But that is surely a reason to engage with it and try to change it from within, rather than withdraw from it. If the MEPs who represent other parties had any balls, they would spend their time there campaigning for the immediate closure of the Strasbourg parliament - how wasteful is it to hold the plenaries at a separate location? They also need to be more forceful with regard to opposition to the Lisbon treaty and be calling for the EU Commissioner to be an elected rather than appointed position, &c.

Michael Martin has told MPs he intends to stand down as Commons Speaker, amid criticism of his role in the MPs' expenses row.

He told MPs he would relinquish the office of Speaker on 21 June - to maintain "unity" in the House.

In a short statement to a packed House of Commons he said a new Speaker would be elected the following day.

A motion of no confidence in him has been backed by 23 MPs. Mr martin is also expected to step down as an MP.

Anne Widdecombe is putting herself forward as an Interim Speaker until the general election where she will stand down.

presumably so that her own parties mp's will get to choose who is speaker and not the current governments.

.. feigning reluctance?

the tories could get rid of the Ken Clarke problem by making him speaker

What problem, he's the only Tory anybody likes

Of course two of the guys who gave Michael Martin such a hard time yesterday were, errrrrrrrr, two of the Tories he beat in the election to become Speaker, no sour grapes there then.

the problem being he's pro-euro and in the shadow cabinet and could split the party, if he's speaker he's no problem anymore to them.

He wouldn't split the party even if he came out dressed in lederhosen singing Le Marseillaise, they want to win the election so they'll hold their noses and keep him in the shadow cabinet because he is one the few Tories who is not actively repulsive to non-Tories

And, in any case, he hasn't got any followers in the party

good riddance

Tom D, just because Clarke is a jazzbo doesn't mean one can forgive or forget

I'm not forgiving him!

My assumption had been that Cameron drafted Clarke back into the Shadow Cabinet partly because they needed him there to look more heavyweight with the economic clouds gathering, but also because there's some sort of unexploded bomb lurking around George Osborne that may make it necessary to parachute in a new Shadow Chancellor at short-notice.

I hope that bomb explodes ASAP then.

Well, apart from the rumour I've heard about him boffing Ruth Kelly, which is funny rather than anything else.

Also they got the idea in their head, typical policy wonk rubbish, that Labour getting Mandelson back in the cabinet was a big success (huh?) so they needed an equivalent big hitter - also the fact Osborne is utterly wet and a weed

The last umpteen Speakers all got life peerages. Poor old Michael Martin gets the bum's rush, aw diddums.

He'll probably get one posthumously.

If Labour and the Lib Dems were really smart they'd all vote for David Cameron.

He'll probably get one posthumously.

You mean not only is he resigning, he's being executed too? Bit harsh.

only language these people understand

One hates to say one told you so but...

Big thing now is to kill Michael Martin and parade his head on a stick round Parliament Square, that will make everything better

― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Tuesday, May 19, 2009 9:43 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Will it make the new U2 album better?

Man, they should make Adam Clayton the new Speaker. He could punctuate House proceedings with a few tasty bass licks.

Ker-thwunk.

Tasty bass licks? Adam Clayton? You mean dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum?

Nobody's that dum.

If Anne Widdecombe becomes Speaker I shall never watch parliament. That voice.

Well, apart from the rumour I've heard about him boffing Ruth Kelly, which is funny rather than anything else.

I think I've just threw up in my mouth.

Mr Willis, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, claimed on his expenses for the full interest costs of the home loan at his London flat as well as getting it rewired and repainted.

He bought a flat next door and his former flat is now occupied solely by his daughter Rachel, a former model who appeared in a series of television adverts for the internet service provider AOL. Her father has since claimed more than £2,500 in stamp duty and fees and £3,000 on further improvements on the new flat which he has designated his second home, the deeds for are held jointly between himself and his daughter.

Nice to see AOL Connie got something out of it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/graphics/2001/12/17/ecfconn011217.jpg

At least with the £10 million saved on "fraudulent" MP expenses the Government will now be able to go some way towards meeting the estimated £12 million that the ID card scheme will cost.

Cynical? Perish the thought!

The LSE reckons the real cost will be between £10bn and £20bn, actually.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3127696.stm

If you believe what the so-called "BBC" tells you, that is. Cynical? Moi?

Seems a much bigger waste of public money to me.

I agree.

One of the few good things from this recession is that idiot schemes like ID cards and Trident will be quietly shelved.

Until Cameron's administration reintroduces them for whatever spurious tabloid-pleasing reason he can think of at the time.

Don't know about Trident, but I hear word that for all the Tories' bashing of the ID card scheme, they're unlikely to scrap it, but instead just carefully repackage it.

Trident's here to stay, to prevent another 9/11.

The Tories haven't pledged to scrap Trident. They haven't pledged to do anything. They've merely said that military spending is "not immune".

Of course, I don't really understand why they haven't. Surely saying we can get rid of this and spend this much on...oh I don't know...bailing out country pubs or something would be a sure fire vote winner.

yeah but they'd have to stick to it. but these are policies i'd expect a Tory government to have gone with anyway.