Should the Speaker go?
Posted on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 6:18pm
7 responses
I have to say that I am undecided as to whether the Speaker should stand down in Westminster as a result of the expenses fiasco. I listened to the Radio Wales phone in today, and I understand the blogger Iain Dale’s reasoning for supporting the call for the Speaker to stand down- that this should happen as soon as possible so that reforms can take place immediately, with a new Speaker leading the way. A Speaker that has not been party to the current mess regarding expenses. After all, the Speaker Michael Martin is responsible for the office that ensures the ‘smooth’ running of the House of Commons- specifically the fees office where civil servants have famously ok’ed some of those unacceptable claims from MPs ( I will never talk about moats and swimming pools in the same way again) Nonetheless, I hesitate in chiming in agreement at this stage that it is the Speaker who should go, as I think that this problem goes far deeper than the role of the Speaker alone.
I do not want to see Michael Martin being used as a scape goat. Once he has gone, will everything change? At the end of the day, responsibility for expenses a) lies with individual MPs- they should be answerable for their own expenses claims, and to justify them regardless of the ‘system’ and b) party leaders should act as just that in providing advice to fellow MPs on the system as it stands.
Many critics have stated how well David Cameron has dealt with the expenses issue, of apologising promptly and condemning those MPs in his party that have clearly been excessive. Yet I don’t believe that he should be excused from culpability entirely. Surely it is the role of party leaders to keep track of MPs expenses from their respective parties, and guide MPs ( especially newer MPs) as to what they should do, what they should or should not claim? Should party leaders be able to somehow keep this issue at arms length, as if it is out of their control?
It is for this reason that I waver over whether the Speaker should go. This situation was not created by one person, from one political party. Everyone involved has to take collective action to change the system, and there should be a recognition that there are MPs out there who have not been part of all of this, and have acted appropriately from the outset.
As I write, Michael Martin has not resigned, has not announced a date to resign despite apologising to the house. MPs are furious today that a motion proposing a no confidence motion was not considered, and that the Speaker did not understand the proceedings himself as to the hearing of the motion in question!
Michael Martin remains in the Chair for now, but I doubt that the likes of Nick Clegg will let this issue rest. After all, many people see Michael Martin as part of the old fashioned club of MPs, who last week wanted action taken on the leak of the expenses to the Daily Telegraph. But again, a change in culture will take more than removing one person from one position. A total reform of Westminster is what’s needed, surely?
I bet Gordon Brown regrets not biting the bullet and calling that general election when he may have come out of it a bit battered and bruised, as opposed to possibly facing a disastrous result in a future General election. I am sure that the current opinion polls are reason enough for David Cameron to be calling for an immediate general election- possibly bypassing the discussion over the Speakers resignation to make headway elsewhere…
Now its over to you to convince me he should go!
update 19/05/09 – the Speaker has announced his intention to stand down. Events have moved faster than expected. Lets hope this leads to wholescale reform now.
The MPs musn’t be allowed to force Michael Martin to step down.
They are only trying to use it to take the limelight of themselves and have the political scalp needed to take the pressure off them. They wish.
It is not one person to blame, those who have benefited must also take responsibility and pay the price. If we were doing this sort of thing, we would end up in court and have a heavy fine and even prison.
Let us also not forget, these are the people who are castagating those on benefits as cheating the system and are trying to get as many as they can off those benefits and in to low payed work. Even the geniunely ill and single mothers of young children.
Who are the real benefit cheats.
If as they say they are all mistakes and oversights. then at the very least they are incompetent and at worse, well, I will leave you to think that one out
I agree. Whatever his inedequacies, Mr Martin wasn’t standing behind MPs with a gun forcing them to:
a.) Vote for this system; and
b.) make these disproportionate claims.
There is a stench of hypocrisy and self righteousness behind the calls for him to go and quite a bit (particularly Nick Clegg) of an eye to the main chance for party political advantage.
The speaker should not be used as a shield to protect MP’s from the arrows of outrage fired by the public. While Speaker Martin could have handled things more effectively, I think there is a large slice of hypocrisy in the stance taken by that small group of MP’s calling for his resignation. Such “righteous indignation” led by that self-styled demagogue, Clegg, is frankly cowardly and nauseating. They should look at themselves before they “throw the first stone”.
These people think they are doing Parliament a favour, whereas what they are actually doing is firing another torpedo below the waterline of the HOC, and fueling the agitation of the people.
Parliament and indeed our cherished democracy is being undermined by such action.
Surely a man who has consistently blocked reform of the House and the expenses system is not the right man to guide Parliament through this crisis. Do you not see how much of crisis politics is currently in? Do you not see the anger out there on the streets? Of course he should not be a scapegoat but heads must roll and his must be the first of many.
There needs to be a ‘night of the long knives’ and the Speaker happens to be the first to go. Those who preach to working people about hard work and honesty while feathering their own nests using a secretive allowances system must pay the price and be ejected from Parliament.
While I expect it from the Tories, for Labour to be at it as well makes me sick. They show an utter contempt for working people and must be replaced.
“Sir, these are my principles, and if you don’t like them, I have others”
Its typical of the greedy, self serving, Westminster hegemony that they have found in the Speaker, the ideal scape goat for the scandalous, possibly criminaly fraudulent cheating of the expenses system that has now been brought to light. Lets face reality here, the majority of the members in Westminster have been caught with their hands in the till, they should ALL be replaced at the next general election, the more independant MP’s we have elected to govern us and the further we get away from Party politics the better.
George Galloway has an interesting take on this whole sorry matter
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=4060