A man who fell to the occasion

Michael Martin is a man I ought, in theory, to endorse as Speaker of the House of Commons. He has the kind of background of which Socialist legends are made. His father was a merchant seaman and his mother a school cleaner. He was a trade unionist from his teens who joined the Labour Party in 1966 when he was 21. He became a Labour MP for Glasgow Springburn in 1979 and served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary from 1980 - 1983. He served on various Parliamentary committees for the next 17 years, doing all the right things, and finally was chosen to succeed Betty Boothroyd as Speaker in 2000. The appointment was controversial as it had been convention to alternate the leading political parties in the Speakers role but Martin succeeded his fellow Labour MP.



The result has, in my opinion, been a grievous mistake. Martin's performance as speaker has constantly courted controversy, not least on the question of his claiming expenses.He was much criticised last year for using tax payers money to pay for lawyers to block negative press stories about him. He has refused to allow his wife to be security vetted and has also tried to block the publication of MPs expense sheets - presumably because they may well reflect on his own claims. He was investigated after his wife went on shopping trips and incurred £4000 in taxi fares which Martin subsequently claimed. He also charged the refurbishment of his home to expenses at a cost of £1.7 MILLION - the sort of figures most of us could only dream of.

Then, last week, came the arrest of Damian Green, the Tory immigration spokesman during which police searched Green's office in the House of Commons. Questions were asked about who had given the police permission to conduct such a search, the ultimate responsibility being Martin's. He came to the Commons on Wednesday with a speech designed to clarify the issue.

In my opinion the speech was hapless. Martin came across like some stumbling, insecure Uriah Heep putting most of the responsibility on the Serjeant-at-arms, Jill Pay. I have no doubt that Martin probably did find out too late to do much about it but being a public figure is all about taking responsibility. Martin's red-faced shuffling performance, punctuated with cries of 'Order' before he was even interrupted, came across like a 'nothing to do with me, guv' rebuttal.

It was not a performance guaranteed to inspire confidence and although it is convention to publicly support the Speaker, MPs can hardly fail to have been discomfited by the clear avoidance of responsibility shown by the senior figure in the Commons.

I believe Mick Martin should stand down as Speaker. This performance must, for many MPs have finally sapped whatever confidence was left in a man whose record in the role - both in the chamber and in his dealings outside it - has been sadly disappointing.