"Having listened to the Speaker this afternoon, I am very sad but I have no alternative other than to withdraw my, and the official opposition's support, for him. It is simply not good enough merely to announce just another meeting. I am very mindful of the convention that the official opposition supports the office of Speaker, and I continue to do that. But I cannot stand idly by while the office is brought into serious disrepute. So I join with the Leader of the second opposition party and can announce this evening that the opposition will, at the earliest opportunity, use its next opposition day debate to debate a motion of confidence in the Speaker of the House of Commons."
He'd have virtually the whole country with him. It's not playing politics. It's defending Parliament.
64 comments:
But that would contradict what he and Hague said over the weekend-NEVER must mean NEVER-The main opposition party can never attack the speaker. Whatever the circumstances. This is the tragedy of living in the UK-We ne3ed the equivalent of the Tamil Tigers demonstrators-Why aren't WE disrupting the traffic in Westminster?
Do you think he'd dare?
We want them all out and start again, no more tinkering
Calls are going out for the 23rd
Love that statement Iain
Let's hope.
I agree it should be a vote of no confidence in the government itself, which widens the debate and requires Brown to lead on behalf of the government. The Conservatives would lose the debate, given the numbers, but it would reflect the gravity of the present situation, and could become one of the turning points in our constitutional history.
"Perhaps we can appeal to his lower instincts of which there are many to get rid of this man
"He couldn't run the Girl Guides"
Speaker Letts-Our only hope!
Labour in general and Martin in particular repudiated the conventions about the role of the Speaker.
Cameron should act to RESTORE those conventions,
How about Cameron says:
"I fully respect the office of Speaker and will not speak against it. But the House of Commons wants to debate the issue of the Speaker's future. The Government must table the motion of no-confidence (or its own motion of Confidence) in the speaker as soon as possible. It cannot be that the Government blocks this debate"
Well Iain I let my local mp know of my thoughts - The speaker must go.
Its a shame my local MP is Tommy McAvoy.
http://www.conservatives.com/Campaigns/Sign_for_Change/Petition_Item.aspx
He needs to be a little careful not to be seen to be trying to shift the blame from his own sleazy colleagues on to the speaker.
I like the headline that this provided Iain.
Tory Leader gives lead from second place.
Hasn't Nick Clegg already given this lead? Will be nice to welcome DC on board though.
Looks like the old guard have won the latest battle, if only for the present. The longer this thing takes the greater the retribution. They can run and they can hide, but the ballot box will eventually catch up with all the players.
David Cameron should take notice of the old adage ‘… faint heart never won fair lady..’. Perhaps he should throw off his considered tactical game, and just go for it.
Nick Clegg is showing the way, come on David you have nothing to beat, the whole country is behind you, maybe even the Queen.
GB says that the position of the Speaker is a matter for Parliament not the Government. The Speaker says only the Government can provide time for debating the motion. GB says nothing and scoots out the Chamber.
The man is so untrustworthy you cannot beleive anything he says about anything. The one element of hope is that the one thing you can count on with GB is that he will drop his friends the moment they become embarrassing.
Why do Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg invite their MPs to resign simultaneously?
I bet Martin is secretly happy - he has pulled down another part of our checks and balances like a Socialist/Marxist "should".
Loathsome creature. Ladder kicker!
Cameron and Clegg should meet the Queen heading a delegation and request her to dissolve this Parliament. Brown and Martin would stay put as long as they can.
He needs only to provide the Opposition Day debate, even with a free vote. The damage done would be that this could not take place, as I understand it, before this week's recess
I thought the speaker was fantastic today! http://rantinrab.blogspot.com/2009/05/didnt-he-do-well.html
Bernie - to quote Keynes "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
Cameron is perfectly able to change his position based on this egregious performance.
Agreed ! but I think it is going to take a march on Parliament - have never felt the need to join a march before ( shame on me) but this is something that our children and children's children need to happen.
Enough is enough, careerist self interest cannot be allowed to continue.
The speaker has called for a meeting with the leaders tonight.
This is the opportunity for Mr Cameron to tell the speaker to resign now.
It is an opportunity to say resign now, or I will use the nuclear option and that will be a shame, because it should never have come to that.
I think the average person is far more bothered about their MPs expenses than the what the Speaker has or hasnt done. The Speaker needs to go but i can't imagine many people turning up for a demo against him
DC needs to go on TV tonight and put the ball firmly in Browns court. It is the govt that are stopping the issue being debated. It is BROWN who is propping up this loser.
If BROWN wont allow the debate then the people will judge him accordingly. IF BROWN allows the debate then all those crooked Labour MPs can vote to keep Martin if they want and face the voters wrath in 12 months time
DC has called for a national petition, he has the inititaive Whilst Gordon Brown hunkers down in his bunker, too slow witted to react to events.
Bally brinksmanship - seems to have the air of the Clegg about it.
Sadly, "Call me Dave" hasn't got the cojones to do what Iain very sensibly and rightly suggests.
We are watching Parliament choke on its own excrement.
I'm shocked at what I've witnessed today. I didn't think it was possible for Martin (and Brown) to stoop so low.
Frankly, I'm losing patience with Cameron. They are all looking equally as bad to me.
It was a pretty shambolic performance from MM this afternoon, but as the comments here make quite clear, if Cameron took such an action it would be playing politics.
It's highly debatable if he would have 'virtually all of Parliament' behind him let alone the general public.
You're getting mighty over-excited about this Iain but, while the public are rightly hacked off with the expenses shambles, this particular row surely strikes many people as the Westminster village looking inward.
Unless, of course, it's because you want to make good on your prediction last Thursday:
"By the end of this month, Michael Martin will no longer be Speaker. Indeed, I'd almost be willing to bet that he will have stepped down by the end of next week."
Hope you didn't put the Total Politics pension fund on that last bet.
Cromwell had an idea or two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DygRpOO5kt0&feature=PlayList&p=1757BE5F698CFBF9&index=11
As I believe that Brown is behind the Speakers decision. I think Cameron can and should do as Iain suggests.
The conservatives will lose the debate as Brown will insist on a 3 line whip CAMERON WINS as he can point out that Brown is playing politics with the office of Speaker.
The conservatives win the debate. CAMERON WINS as he can say he and the Lib Dems brought the motion together!
It is a win win situation!
Thanks, Oliver. Hope to see you there!
"It is a win win situation!"
Yes, but count on Call-Me-Dave to find some way to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory, even so.
He has no convictions and no guts.
Clegg on BBC News in a few minutes-That'll be very important as if all the Lib Dems appear on the Order Paper, surely his position is untenable
Just looked at Labourlist. They are in a panic that they are going to be held responsible for keeping this buffoon in office (and for once I don't mean Gordon Brown). The pressure on the Government is going to be irresistable.
Clegg currently on R5
Lynn Featherstone, Frank Dobson and Patrick Cormac on R4
Richard Shepherd on Sky
Enough talking-WE NEED ACTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw1z55cx7v0
Video Calling for Michael Martin to go
Anonymous said...
I think the average person is far more bothered about their MPs expenses than the what the Speaker has or hasnt done.
I might point out that the Speaker is an MP and his expenses wouldn't bear much scrutiny...had they not been carefully shredded.
What about asking Ken Clarke to explain to Gorbals Mick that his position is untenable? "No-Even if you think you have a majority, that isn't enough. You must resign"
After his own alleged role in the expenses fandango, isn't it a bit rich your old mucker DD putting his name on the list? Doesn't it just add to the cause of those claiming Mick is being made the scapegoat?
Sorry Iain, I disagree.
If DC has the luxury of an opposition day, the Commons should be debating the substantive issue, not the fate of one individual amongst many who've contributed to the shambles.
23rd is a waste of time. The scum will be off living it up at race meetings, casinos, country retreats etc.
The Speaker should go, clearly.
However, he is being set up by MPs of all political colours as the scapegoat. He's an easy way out for the troughers to blame.
Cameron, Clegg et al should sit and wait.
Softly, softly catchee monkey.
Nick Robinson just said on R4 - "It's a question of when, not if [The Speaker goes] "
Cameron and Clegg should work together on this one. If there cannot be a motion of no confidence in the Speaker then its time to collapse this mess and reconstitute parliament.
They should agree that both parties will withdraw completely from Parliament- just walk out and not return to the chamber until after an election. If Labour want to continue in Parliament they will have a free hand - but that's the reality of their majority anyway. The real position will be that the Government must collapse. It will have lost all legitimacy and will appear as a broken husk of a dictatorship - a group of crooks hanging on to the bitter end to wring the maximum in pay and expenses from the system before the electorate dismiss them. The opposition can harang them from the sidelines as refusing to give the people the vote - disenfranchising the electorate and ignoring their calls to go.
It is not constitutionally appropriate for the leader of the opposition and prospective head of the executive to call for the resignation of the head of the legislature.
However a nod and wink and most Conservative backbench MPs signing the resignation motion would be equivalent.
And of course Brown is standing by his fellow Scot who is also doing so well...
Dave should realise that his duty is to the country not clubhouse rules.
Getting a new Speaker is essential as just the first step to bringing back confidence in the system.
The sight of Martin hiding behind procedures which even MPs themselves cannot understand will only have exacerbated the public cynicism about parliament.
Dave should show where he stands - and if necessary in tandem with Clegg.
The speaker should go but once again I agree with Ricardo's Ghost. This is a job for the back benchers, for the independant parliment.
No, he would have the whole country with him if he put down a motion of no confidence in the government.
The Speaker might be a berk, but he is NOT what people really care about now.
Robinson has reported on his blog that the Speaker had a meeting with Gordon Brown yesterday. If this is true, surely it should be news, and earth-shattering news at that.
I cannot for the life of me see what the constitutional justification would be for such a meeting to take place outside parliamentary procedure.
Anyone know how to FOI the minutes?
What an amateurish suggestion. Low politics of the worst sort. It's no wonder David Davies never got close to winning the leadership with you has his chief of staff.
I have just written to David, politely suggesting Conservative members of parliament consider resigning on mass. That would be a nuclear option but, give the people the general election we need.
Alternatively, ten Conservatives at a time could resign and stand again on principle repeating the process until the bankrupt Labour party falls on its sword.
What price a spine?
If only he hadn't tried the wisteria scam.
The next so called "lead" will need some real action attached.
Mr Cameron would have virtually the whole of England with him if he proposed giving us a fair deal via devolution. But he doesn't bother, simply goes on about respecting the Scots and beggar the rest of us. He won't act.
The 1st thing that should happen is that the Scottish Conservative Party announce that there were be a Candidate in Glasgow North East at the General Election. I suggest Annabelle Goldie.
This will not involve breaking any rules. It is a convention observed only by our Party. Speaker Lloyd and Speaker Wetherall both faced Labour and Liberal opponents. It also has a get out in that DC can claim the Scottish Party is an autominous organisation and is free to make its own decisions.
Such an action by the Scottish Party would signify that the present holder of the office is not fit for purpose.
>> Ricardo's Ghost said...
The Speaker does not serve at the pleasure of the Opposition or the Government frontbenches. <<
When Parliamentary rules prevent any substantive motion on the position of the Speaker being introduced by anyone other than the Government, then the Speaker does indeed serve at the pleasure of the Government.
Unless you are suggesting that he would win a free vote of confidence ?
And if that is the case, why is it not being allowed ?
So many damn conventions and so excuses not to do anything. Labour(Scottish dominated and perfectly happy to be openly anti English for 12 years) have never shown any respect for convention. They think its all an English plot. The Tories have used "convention" as a perma excuse for remainng mute all that time. God , how pathetic they are.
This could easily develope into an English/Scottish thing which would be no bad thing in which case we will see Cameron changing course to protect Scotland and damn England.
Totally sick of the "United" Kingdom anyway.
"He'd have virtually the whole country with him..."
No. The whole country do not care about the Speaker, it is truly a sign that those inside the bubble do not get it.
The whole country cares about the Morelys, the Chaytors, the Chapmans, the Mackay and Kirkbrides, the Hazlehursts, the Dorrieses, the Hopes, the Smiths, the Khans and the rest. The country is up in arms about the expenses scandal and look what happens. Thieving Ben Chapman is ignored because MPs try to blame a scapegoat rather than themselves.
Cameron should make sure his own house is in order before 1) trying to take the highground with the Speaker and 2) calling for a General Election.
The scottish triumvirate of Brown, Darling and Martin have done more for the cause of an independant Scotland, then all the considerable efforts of the SNP over the years.
I agree with all those who think that DD should keep his mouth shut on this. The damage to parliament and MPs can't be fixed this side of a general election.
In the meantime allow Martin to dig himself in deeper. People will see him as the dinosaur trade unionist that he is, will assume that Chief Prevaricator Brown approves of his inaction and will send them to the furthest reaches of hell together.
I say that as a 'none of the above' supporter who hopes that radical reform - that benefits ordinary people rather than game playing politicos and the commentariat - will come out of this shit storm.
www.mindworksblog.com
Brown/Balls/Martin-what a team!
Incidentally, why are all these Labour MPs and advisers (not to mention prime ministers) so damned fat? It hardly sets a good example to the electorate, does it. Junior minister Tom Watson is a veritable Billy Bunter and as for Nick Brown... http://bit.ly/bunterbrown...oh hang on, he claimed £18000 over 4 years 'in unreceipted expenses' just for food. What?!
Can we have a general election now, please? Really, it's the only option.
I must be going mad. Thought I left a comment on this thread this afternoon...
Nurse!
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