To watch the Speaker’s, Michael Martin, performance this afternoon was surreal bordering on the farcical. A perfunct apology was followed by a game of hide and seek behind the legal processes of debate. When finally cornered, the Speaker refused to countenance resignation, immediate or otherwise. It was clear that of those present in the house, the majority were in favour of an unequivocal statement in the opposite direction.
The Speaker may appear to be a victim of misdirected anger, a scapegoat. However it was Mr Martin who actively blocked attempts to use the FOI act to reveal the spending habits of MP’s. His response has been muted in public and obstinate in private. He is totally out of touch with the public mood. His example (his wife’s taxi fares) before this blew up, his failure to step forward as an impartial representative of the house of commons and his subsequent (in)actions clearly warrant his demise.
His supporters have long suggested that his opponents are waging war on a nationalistic (Mr Martin is Scottish) class front. Mr Martin is brusque at best and rude at worst but these are traits present in many of our business and political leaders. He has however been accused (below the parapet) of a lack of impartiality in his running of the house. Mr Martin will have thought long and hard about his response today. Clearly not long and hard enough.
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