I'm afraid I have been out so missed Michael Martin's statement on expenses. All I know is that he had a right old go at Kate Hoey and Norman Baker for speaking to the media in advance of the statement.
On this whole issue he has been the roadblock to reform. But since he has been a trade unionist all his life, he will want what's coming to him...
161 comments:
I have just emailed my MP ref Douglas Carswell's effort to get rid of this anti-democratic ghoul.
http://www.talkcarswell.com/show.aspx?id=698
Can I suggest that everyone else does the same,especially those living in Labour area's.
This country is not the personal fiefdom of 646 politico's who seem to think it is acceptable to pay lip service to democracy.
The man must go and parliment,not simply expenses, MUST be reformed.
He is an utter disgrace, and has dragged the office of Speaker into the gutter.
The Penguin
He seems to be lining up support for Douglas Carswell's attempt to replace him.
"But since he has been a trade unionist all his life, he will want what's coming to him..."
I'm sure that we could all make up simialr statements about Tories - but they would just be plain insults and smears. There are still millions of trade unionists in this country do you apply the same bigoted position to all of them?
Michael Martin is a prat. Today he just showed what a corrupt bunch of scumbags most politicians are seen as.
Calling in the Police? Why? Here we go again. Someone leaks information that is clearly in the public interest and Liebour call in the Police. I hope Damien Green makes a run for it just in case.
I just wonder if the Tories had called in the Police every time Gordon Brown got hold of a leak if the left would have been happy?
Yes the police should be called in, but they should be investigating the apparent fraud going on.
From the Telegraph Blog:
Speaker Michael Martin (to another MP): "I have been a trade unionist all my life. I did not come into politics not to take what is owed to me."
It's time this odious man was shown the door. He has besmirched the office of Speaker for far too long.
One word sums it up, Iain.
Disgraceful
The house of commons receiving a lecture on expenses from Martin is exactly the problem with the current system
Daily Mash have a nice perspective on it http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/it%27s-the-system-that%27s-a-piece%11of%11shit%2c-thieving-bastard%2c-say-mps-200905111751/
He should be the scapegoat:
http://donalblaney.blogspot.com/2009/05/buck-stops-in-gorbals.html
Martin's response to any form of dissent was clear proof of how completely and utterly out of touch this man, and many of his fellow MPs, have now become.
It was a disgraceful performance, belittling Hoey etc. for giving comments to newspapers and appearing on panels that, Martin, claimed, were spouted only because they believed that this is what their audience i.e. the general public wanted to hear and, therefore, were completely insincere.
He is absolutely appalling, a cancer at the heart of our democracy eating away at the very last remnants of its credibility. I hope it gets top billing on every news report tonight and newspaper tomorrow so that everyone can see just what a contemptible fool this man has become.
His performance made me sick.
Brown: Call an election now, you disgusting pig.
Douglas Carswell has had the text of a no-confidence motion in the Speaker approved by the tabling office.
I was utterly appalled by his sense of indignation.
His sense of entitlement is so ingrained that it is blionding him to the moral dimension of the argument.
His assault on Kate Hoey was quite simply astonishing and reflected very poorly on him in my opinion.
A wretched performance from an utterly compromised and discredited speaker.
For Parliament to have any chance of restoring it's reputation Martin must go. He has presided over this shambles and has attempted to prevent the public from finding out the ugly truth.
MP Carswell trying to get something going re Mr Martin:
Motion of no confidence in the Speaker
Enough is enough.
I've drafted the text of a motion for the Speaker to quit, and to be replaced by a new Speaker with a mandate to clean up the Commons. I'm consulting the Commons Table Office for advice on it.
I'm also starting to canvass for support for it from colleagues.
UPDATE: Table Office has just approved some text for a suitable motion.
The old monster needs shooting. What happened to his expenses claims? Oh, they were shredded. How convenient. He's in it up to his ochsters, the corrupt old fraud.
He is not worthy of such a great office. When you look at previous speakers, including the great Bernard Weatherill, Speaker Martin does not befit the robes he wears.
He has been a severe disappointment over the whole expenses issue and his handling of the Damien Green shameful story.
He should go
Kate Hoey on R4 just now said 'Let me put it this way - I wish we still had Betty Boothroyd'
The Speaker has left me ashamed to be British
Michael Martin has never really made the transition from being a fairly authoritarian committee chairman in local government to the role of Speaker of the House. He is not alone. It is one of the features of New Labour that they are trying to run the UK the same way that they ran Eatanswill District Council.
Proof positive (if any was needed) that the Speaker is part of the problem
Vindictive, surly, unrepentant
Could his views be coloured by the criticism over his own grossly inflated expenses, air miles racket and his wife's nose in the trough?
SACK HIM NOW !!!
I watched with disbelief as he almost had a breakdown 'live' on air.
He should be turfed out NOW !!!
Alistair Graham was on BBC News 24 saying he wasn't up to the job.
Kate Hoey has just been on PM - he is clearly not well thought of, is out of his depth and is on some 'committee' now which is failing to address the problem properly and is trying to 'shoot the messenger' and get the police dragged in.
He is part of the problem and needs to have NO PART of trying to find the solution.
TURF HIM OUT - NOW !!!
It was just Michael Martin being Michael Martin. There was nothing novel here.
Those of us who remember him from the days of the old Glasgow Corporation will not be surprised at his temper tantrum when challenged. Those of us who remember the things he and his son got up to (and which his MSP son continues to get up to) in Springburn will not be surprised that Martin's only interest is in feathering his own nest.
Michael Martin: a nasty venal little man with a sense of entitlement the size of the Rock of Gibraltar and all the moral rectitude of Fagin.
It seems that he was really pissed off when he wrote this small speech since he seems to have totally ignored the general public's wrath towards the expense's row. His delivery was very poor, again it appears due to his anger or could it be fear.
Another 'case of shoot the messenger' I'm afraid, spending most of the speech attacking the Telegraph and also Sky News (wonder what they have done to annoy him).
The Speaker could have gone some way to repair some of the damage done to the general public's view of British politics over the last few weeks but sadly seems to have made things worse in my opinion.
I heard the exchange between the Speaker and Ms Hoey on the PM programme. I don't think anything so far in this disgraceful business has triggered real anger in me, but this did. I swore aloud. This man cannot remain Speaker. He doesn't speak for the British parliament I learned about proudly at school, supported in elections all my life, and now am ashamed of; and he doesn't speak for the mood of England now. He is a bullying moron and should go. Immediately.
I've been a trade unionist all my life - but that doesn't make me a crook, I resent the suggestion that it does.
Martin is beneath contempt, and should go.
If he wants what's coming to him, then a Glasgow Kiss seems meet.
Let's get one thing straight. These low-life polypropyline carpetbaggers with their co-ordinated kitchens and oh so arriviste gentilities don't want equality, they want supremacy.
It is the tyranny of the shits over the workers on the back of f*ck you expenses. F*ck 'im. Really, really, F*ck 'im.
It also looks as though the Speaker's legal nasties may be doing his dirty work over at PB.com - the chill winds of censorship are blowing this way...
Didn't Gordon Brown also talk to the media?
Iain this Speaker as been a National Disaster for the contry. The Labour Party was wrong to elect another Labour member instead of following the convention that the Speaker usually comes from the opposition party. That is from an erstwhile Labour supporter. I hear there are moves afoot to remove him and quite right too.
Well ... Douglas Carswell has tabled a vote of no-confidence in the useless speaker ....
http://www.talkcarswell.com/
My perception of him today was that he was absolutely livid.
I thought Kate Hoey was pretty on the ball in her diplomacy over the issue, however it seems the speaker is totally out of touch with public sentiment in my opinion.
One may argue that the speaker's needn't worry about public sentiment, however this is not just about one party, it is about the entire house, himself included.
Any member of the public (such as myself) watching would get the impression of someone of supreme arrogance, and in complete denial (and understanding) of the issue.
Did they immediately call in police when the public's data went missing?
Looks like a man with a limited future.
Disgraceful man. Kate Hoey got it right on Pm when she said "Come back Betty Boothroyd".
Nauseating to hear one of the chief 'blockers' to reform taking a high moral tone with Norman Baker of all people, one of the few MPs I might trust. How do we get rid of this man? Hypocritical pontificating at its worst.
This whole issue is about judgement and he has consistently
Shown poor judgement. He needs to be told to go.
Disgraceful. See Douglas Carswell's blog, he's started a motion to remove the speaker.
And with a bit of luck, Gorbals Mick will undoubtedly get what's coming to him.
When you consider the likes of Betty Boothroyd and George Thomas, this current incumbent has done a great diservice to the office of speaker. Absolutely no contest and no integrity or impartiality whatsoever.
Does he give a stuff? I doubt it, compared to his constituents, he's entitled to quite a tasty pension.
Let my pauper constituents each cake!
He has been the union leader determined to ensure his employees milk the system.
I'd quite happily pay for a chauffeur for him myself next time he needs one and make sure the driver takes him to the nearest cemetary and ensures he doesn't bring him back. Such an obnoxious little hoon of the highest order.Grown fat at the tax payers expense.
Dissolve Parliament now. You will definitely pay!
Iain, how do you put up with Martin?
He's completely unfit to hold this position.
His treatment of Norman Baker and Kate Hoey beggars belief.I had the misfortune to be watching Parliament TV.
How dare he when his own expenses do not stand scrutiny.
He's nothing more than an apologist for a bankrupt government.
The end of him and the whole Labour project cannot arrive quickly enough.
I only hope the failures of some on the Tory benches don't cloud the waters.
Virtually nothing Labour promised has come to fruition. The economy is bust and our pension system has been mugged.
You have to sort out the expenses asap, punish those who have erred and get back to hammering McMental.
What do you mean by "what's coming to him"?
The statement will be here in an hour or so
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kfcht/House_of_Commons_11_05_2009/
I know what he ought to get.......a one way ticket back to Glasgow. What the H of C needs is a competent Speaker untainted by any of this expenses fiasco. One who will sort out who gets what and make sure the rules are a damn sight tighter than at present. Such as all second homes in the capital are classed as exactly that with no flipping allowed. Those who represent London constituencies to have seperate arrangements.
KH no doubt thought the Speaker should be organising his own little mole hunt and let the cops get on with catching crooks.
Iain I think grovellling or apologizing MPs will not undo the damage done by these MPs. Enough of them have been found to be abusing the system that it creates a constitutional dilema. On one hand MPs are reasonable enough to debate a subject but in the other hand (in their own words) they will screw the system if they think they can get away win it.
Apparently MPs cannot be trusted not to trough. New Labour has not only been troughing at the expenses. They have been troughing at the communication budget to publish faux party broadcasts. They have been troughing at the local authority budget to send taxes to the North. They have been troughing at the benefits budget to pay faux disabled people higher benefits. They have been troughing up to their necks to encourage voters to vote New Labour. The troughing culture in parliament is not the tip of the iceburg it's the frost on the tip.
Troughing within the rules runs far and wide. Political correctness, health and saftey, complex taxation, human rights, etc are faux rules that permit troughing and justify non productive income. When you abuse the system you have to justify it, otherwise you are a thief, and all these rules allow public sector workers to trough with a clear mind.
gorbals Mick is a GREEDY **** - oops sorry can't say that.
Up until about 20 years ago I worked for a major Labour controlled LA. (now Libdem)
About that time the shits now in power were cutting their political teeth - and I actually KNOW a few of them. (hee hee "where am I" - no prizes)
I KNOW where Blair got the "scratches on my back". It was from PROFESSIONAL Local Government Officers who told him that his plans were either illegal or just plain daft (been there, done that)
In MY position I was legally barred from taking political action or making my VIEWS known. QUITE RIGHT TOO.
Didn't though stop the ruling party (Labour) telling me that UNLESS I joined the party and abandoned my apolitical stance then my career was over because they couldn't trust me. THat exchange was witnessed by a rather well known COMMUNIST Deputy leader of a major union. HE was disgusted and said so. I warmed to him.
Gorbals Mick seriously reminds me of the bully Labour Party activists I encountered. So time he WENT. HE is far from "clean" so has no right whatever to hit the likes of Kate Hoey. RESIGN MARTIN.You are a remarkably BAD Speaker and YOUR record is NOT "clean". No wonder you want to stifle debate! Wouldn't do would it to have ALL your secrets revealed.
Hope the Telegraph are saving him til last. They clearly are holding back Balls/Cooper, the Keens, and the Wintertons. Grand finale at the weekend? Hope so.
Hi typifies everything that is wrong with Parliament. Everything.
The system needs to change. He has personally benefited from the system, and any change must involve him stepping down.
I am not convinced that an independent auditor is any answer to the problem, because all this will do is add up the figures.
What I would like to know is how much of the cutbacks in public services has been down to providing expenses to MPs?
My views on Martin are not to be seen before the watershed.
It suited Blair to have an ignorant and partisan Speaker when he whipped his backbenchers into voting for Gorbals Mick.
But it does not suit Brown to have inherited a man so clearly incapable of maintaining the dignity and honour of the House.
Another nasty booby trap that Tony laid for Gordon.
A thing called a Black Cab comes to mind. Send him up to Scotland, I don't mind paying the fare for that one. Infact, on the whole devolution theme, it infuriates me that these Scottish MPs want to have their cake and eat it by troughing in London, but having so called Scottish Independence in the Scottish Assembly. If they want full independence, let them have it up there, and stop troughing it down here....
http://www.plenty2say.com
He is utterly useless. Bin him now. Baker deserves a medal for his work on this issue, not a telling off.
Frank Field for Speaker - Kate Hoey for deputy.
Or the other way around if you prefer, but Hoey 'coming out' would I presume er..., queer he patch.
My rant:
Michael Martin is unfit to be Speaker of the House of Commons. In fact, his snout is so far in the trough that only his shit-caked arse can be seen.
He is corrupt to the bone, mendacious, deceitful, profligate and vain.
He is a disgrace to the office, a doddering senile drooling old fool.
He must go NOW. If he does not go, he must be dragged out of office by any means possible.
- those MPs with any integrity left should remove him. They should occupy the Chamber and refuse to leave until he stands down. They should ignore his sanctions, rebukes, threats and bluster. Parliament is in great peril, in a manner not seen since the days of Charles I.
- The press should go all out on Martin - dig into any corner, any nook and cranny, and drag his worm-ridden carcass of a reputation out into daylight. I hope (and suspect) the Telegraph are holding something back.
- We must hold our MPs to account. Those shameless snout-troughers whose fiddles are brazen, those who refuse to admit personal responsibility, they should be removed. They should be deselelcted and where this isn't possible then all those in their constituencies should shun them. No more surgeries, no more photocalls, no more civic occasions. They should be hounded every day until the next election, their reputations shattered beyond rehabilitation.
http://jess-the-dog.blogspot.com/2009/05/remove-speaker-martin-now.html
Can someone remind us Martin's own or his wife's claiming of expenses for taxi rides and other matters. This was in the news a time back and no one ever refers to it any longer. Why not?
I'm from Glasgow. Couldn't we send him to Edinburgh!
Nick Robinson accused him of being the shop steward for the House of Commons.
Would this the Act of Union for Dishonourable Members?
Those truly Honourable Members need to be putting distance between themselves and those who have acted dishonourably.
Martin is Jimmy Brown in drag. Both have deluded minds and nasty tempers. No, James Gordon Brown loves The Speaker and will not let him go.
A discredited Speaker presiding over a discredited House with a discredited Government.
I cry for Great Britain - real tears.
He's just another Glasgow thug. That he's there at all tells you all you need to know about Brown's systemically corrupt apology for a government. He ought to be in Barlinnie along with a few more of the Scots in English Politics.
England is the only country on the planet without its own legislature. I wonder why...
It's time for GROT (Get Rid Of Troughers)
http://www.notthebarnettimes.co.uk/2009/05/grot.html
With day after day of outrage I've begun to suffer from outrage fatigue, and thought it wasn't possible to feel any more angry.
Now I've heard the Speaker's quivering, self-serving, illiterate attack on concerned MPs and now I'm really, really angry.
Michael Martin is a disgrace on so many levels.
He is part of the problem and if parliament wants to rebuild trust with the public, removal of Martin is one of the necessary steps.
I urge everyone to leave Douglas Carswell a message of support on his blog:
http://www.talkcarswell.com/show.aspx?id=698
What a disgraceful performance.
The first step to changing the system and rehabiltating parliament (if that is possible) is to get rid of this man.
He stands as a obstacle to any meaningful reform. He is just so typical of the low grade personalities that are in public life currently.
His attempts to fight disclosure justified his removal, but the latest decision to call in the police was an absolute outrage.
He should resign or be removed now, not hang on for another year.
The police should not allow themselves to be used as a party political tool for unscrupulous politicians.
Speaker Martin and his cronies, continue to ignore the real crime, which is the misappropriation of public funds.
If the police must enter the fray, could they make the subjects of their inquiry, those opportunist MP's, who have been caught with their fingers in the till?
Martin has been a complete disaster. He has besmirched the position of Speaker beyond all recognition. He, his wife, and his various kith and kin are all cut from the same cloth. They are amoral, bullying and incompetent poseurs.
What has Martin ever done to ensure the honour and integrity of Parliament? He is simply disgusting.
Utter disgrace the lot of em the only party that are benefiting from this corrupt mess is the BNP!! they are a party waiting to pounce who can blame them?
Michael Martin is a Hoon of Tim Ireland proportions.
In other words, it's an euphenism of a swear word I'm not allowed to use on this blog. You can work it out, Iain.
Just when I thought Michael Martins couldn’t get any worse, he today abandoned any attempt to look like an imapartial adjudicator and had a go at any MP who questioned the need to bring in the police. Is it in the public interest to have the person who leaked the expense details to the Telegraph arrested? If Michael Martins has abandoned all protocol, so should MPs, they should start criticising him for the arse hole that he is. He is the only man worse than MPs.
Fraser Nelson puts it better than me:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3607291/martin-loses-it.thtml
Whichever way you look at it the speaker is a disgrace.
If he had any dignity he would resign, but since we know that he hasn't, he won't.
>>At the general election (if the current Speaker contests that election) the major opposition parties normally do not contest the Speaker's seat and he is entitled to describe himself on the ballot as "The Speaker seeing re-election", under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act.<<
Time to reconsider this convention.
Useless, stupid, vain, rude, bigotted, lazy, truculent & uninterested in civics and unrespectful of the office. Other than that - lovely chap.
He is unfit for public office. ANY public office - let alone THIS high office. His bitter class warfare neutered the role of Serjeant at Arms, insulted the Queen & allowed Quick to attack the very basis of our democracy by invading Green's parliamentary office. I could go on with a myriad of examples. He is ignorant, in all senses of the word. He should step down right now.
I watched Mr Martin on C4 and BBC news.
He looked and sounded very angry.
I do not understand why: he's doing his job, defending the Commons, defending MPs' right to spend money as they like and trying not to publish it.
What can be wrong with that? Anyone would think we live in the 21st century, that MPs should be accountable for their expenses and a Freedom of Information Act gives them the right - confirmed by the Courts - to see receipts.
Mr Martin is of course acting as if he is a Tory feudal lord. from the 18th century.. with all power and no duties to the taxpayer - his social and political inferiors.
I think he is in the wrong job: a minor functionary whose job it is to delay action would be far more suitable.
As it is, he exaggerates the impression that most MPs are out of touch - and could not give a damn.
he's doing a wonderful job to encourage a total and justified distrust and alienation of politicians from voters..
I agree with every comment castigating Martin.
What I find most galling is his stifling of debate on the Lisbon Treaty - the single most important piece of legislation that has come before parliament this term.
He alone is responsible for this entire fiasco on MPs' expenses because he created the system in which it could flourish.
Labour has unwittingly created a rod for its back. Let's hope its back is broken, finally.
I've written to my MP via theyworkforyou.com to ask him to support Carswell's motion - and would urge everyone to do the same.
MPs knew what Gorbals Mick was and still the leftie Labour cabal headed by Ex-Earl Stangate Tony Benn proposed him even though it was the turn of the speaker from the Tory party. He is the worst speaker in recent history or probably the worst ever and a man who has dragged his office into disrepute by his greediness and partisan politics. I am a pensioner, a retired university academic who Gorbals Mick the ever class warrior would consider as middle class, but my pension is just about a 10th of what he would get as pension + any perks. The Tory and Lib Dem MPs should not take part in the proceedings of the House until this greedy man leaves the House.
Anonymous said "It also looks as though the Speaker's legal nasties may be doing his dirty work over at PB.com - the chill winds of censorship are blowing this way..."
In the past, Michael Martin has hired libel lawyers Carter Ruck at taxpayers expense to deal with the sort of awkward questions currently being asked of him. It wouldn't surprise me if the takedown over at PB had something to do with that.
Interesting bit in the BBC report:
The Labour former minister Chris Mullin asked the Speaker to consider rebutting some "falsehoods" including a suggestion that MPs are "subject to special tax treatment".If this is the case, perhaps Mr Mullin can explain why MPs don't use the same tax return as the rest of us peasants but have their own supplementary pages (SA102 MP - Members of Parliament)?
Without necessarily disagreeing with previous (and somewhat repetitive) comments, I thought there was a certain grandeur Speaker Martin's speech today.
I'm a little taken aback that so many of your commentators seem to think that they are "conservatives". Instead many come across as nutter-right American conservatives. I expect fallacious talk about the origins of the Common Law and/or "black helicopters" to erupt soon.
Surely a core "Tory" belief is in preserving the institutions of the realm and changing them slowly simply because human actions cannot be trusted. The poster here show none of that respect.
As far as I can see, the House of Commons has noticed public discontent and is in the course of addressing the problem.
His comments simply defy belief.
In a week when each new revelation has left a nation speechless with incandescent rage at the pigs sucking up our taxes from their trough, to attack those who criticise these vile practices and speak out on the public's behalf is simply astonishing.
The worst speaker in the worst Parliament lead by the worst Government led by the worst Prime Minister.
Pensioners paying taxes, small companies failing due to crippling corporation tax, sewage workers, cleaners, dustmen all paying taxes so that the well heeled and self-important can gorge themselves in an orgy of indulgence?
Martin? A true working class hero....simply defending the indefensible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=YBCY9wfU39U
A bit off topic, but look at Polly Toynbee's piece this afternoon.
The kiss of death?
Martin was appalling. Don't really see how he can stay.
The man is a disgrace. His attacks on MPs who questioned the wisdom and cost of the police investigation into the leaks showed him at his very worst.
For years now he has fought tooth and nail against disclosing the state of the Augean Stables he's in charge of, now he's more concerned that MPs' addresses are in the hands of a paper, than the very public troughing going on amongst the 'honourable members'.
But then what do you expect from a man who hires a limo to visit his constituency's job centre? (I know, I know; if only he was going there to find a new job)
Martin is not fit for purpose ...
trough ..carter ruckass ..taxis ..chippy ..bias ... the commons police raid ..failure
A monumental disgrace ... where's Betty ?
how about Hoey as his replacement,
or Cable
He shames parliament even more than the troughing MP's
Channel 4 has just had a same seesion with 3 MPs and others. It was evident that Martin is at the heart of the problems, but only the Tory MP would state that Martin should go. The other two Baker and Mann, looked too frightened. Why are MPs so afraid of the Speaker. Any position that has that much power must be wrong.
I have a rule. There are three classes of mnakind. One, People you like. Two, People you don't like. Three, Wankers. Guess which class fits Martin?
Dr. Halsall, if you have any other non sequiturs, please do feel free to bombard us with them.
Straw men, in which you seem to have rather a good line, will be fine too.
"Surely a core "Tory" belief is in preserving the institutions of the realm and changing them slowly simply because human actions cannot be trusted."
Nah... that's old Statist Labour thinking I am afraid, Sometimes you just need a Conservative revolution ....and that is what we need now to fix the damage of the last 12 years
Without a shadow of doubt he should resign.
Paul Halsall,
The point is, that Michael Martin has seriously under performed the role of "Speaker".
For instance, Michael Martin fell way short of actions of his predecessor Speaker Lenthall (Google this guy's comments to Charles 1st in 1642 - then think Damian Green).
Somehow this clip from Band of Brother is also apt - (in reverse of course)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTRZRRlA4sw
he is everything that was wrong with old Labour and everything wrong with New Labour.
Old Labour - because like all those old "heroes of the revolution", as soon as he gets the ermine and robes of office he is quick to trough with the rest of the pigs and to make sure the ladder behind him is pulled up as quickly as possible.
New Labour - because he regards himself as something special, just like those "professional politician" types who have never worked in the real world ever except for paid consultancies and directorships.
He represents a corrupt seat in a corrupt Labour run city. A parrot could get elected there, even a Monty Python-esque "Norwegian Blue" like Martin.
I'm glad someone has brought this issue to a head, its about time.
Hear no evil,see no evil, the speaker is evil.How come everyone who is Scottish and in parliament is a complete and utter wanker.Fuck off back to where you came from and stay there.
Martin is a dick form the football team he supports to him making a bollocks of his job. He’s probably pisst off because the person who passed on the information to the Telegraph got a few quid for the information and Martin got fuck all. That’s why he’s pisst off because he’s a greedy bastard.
Ulster Unionist & Conservative!
Ulster Till I Die!
Watching his speech, the thing that really struck me was just how thick he is! It's amazing to think that just three or four IQ points can differentiate a "care in the community case" from "speaker of the house of commons". God help us all!
My true opinion of the man is unprintable. He has only survived because Gordon Brown, whose placeman he is, has backed him against legitimate criticism with all the power of his majority. Speaker Martin is at the very heart of this mess. Historians will not be kind to him.
His pathetic performance can be seen here.
Michael Martin in Parliament today (YouTube version) Michael Martin - Shoot the Messenger.
Demonstrates daily that he is out of his depth, he's a discgrace to the office of Speaker
I didn't know the Speaker was there to tell MPs what they could and couldn't say in public. What a dick.
I don't fancy his chances against Hoey.
He looked red faced, fat and bloated as ever: a greedy, small minded and ugly man presiding over a greedy House.
I watched the Channel 4 News with the three MPs being asked about their views on Speaker Martin. I was wondering whether they were scared to condemn him (even the Tory MP took his time to say that he thought it better if Martin was no longer around) or whether MPs were still abiding by the ridiculous unwritten convention that criticism of the Speaker in public is unacceptable.
I used to be quite keen on all the (recently invented) traditions of Parliament but have now come to the conclusion that they just obscure the proper workings of the House.
The "tradition" that Ministers don't discuss the currency (so that sterling can't be talked down or rather so that a measure of government economic incompetence can't be mentioned), the "tradition" that the PM can't be called a liar in PMQs when he says something demonstrably false, the "tradition" that MPs are all "honourable" members and so their expense requests should be kept secret etc........all these are actually detrimental to the proper workings of Parliament.
Michael Martin is beneath contempt. Hardly surprising he's a roadblock to reform given his own crooked past in the expenses game.
Remember this anyone?!
If he does stand for Parliament again he should be opposed, by a Martin Bell type anti-sleaze candidate, someone like Guido perhaps! :)
And on the subject of the Speaker, did anyone listen to the lamentable Emily Thornberry on Radio Five this morning? Apparently, we all hate the Speaker because he's a working class Catholic! Nothing to do with the fact that he's shite, eh, Miss Thornberry?!
She also whined about the fact she earned more as a lawyer, and refused point-blank to criticise her "comrade" Margaret Moran. What a pathetic, deceitful little cretin this Thornberry creature is.
Speaker Martin has allowed this problem to fester to the point of putritude, and his own record on expenses has contributed to the stench. Now, true to form, he follows his friend the Prime Minister in blaming those who draw our attention to the smell.
The man is a disgrace, and he should go. If this can't be handled through the 'usual channels' (and I doubt it), then those MPs unsullied by the expenses scandal should openly call for his resignation.
I watched Maichael Martin live and was totally disgusted by his behaviour and attitude.
He needs to be sacked as a bare minimum towards cleaning up the house of commons. Better still we have an immediate election and get to separate the wheat from the chaff ourselves.
Its bad enough having a lame duck PM, but to have a lame duck Parliament....
There is no tradition or honour to speak of left in the HOC. That being the case, don't let this despicable oaf Martin try and use it to stay Speaker.
Get rid of him now! ... and let it just be the beginning.
Idle 6.07
Actually this is one of the very few aspects of NuLab's period in office for which Bliar is not to blame. In actual fact he wanted Ming Campbell for Speaker. It was by and large the Brownites who wanted Michael Martin, part of the reason being the desire on their part to give Bliar a bloody nose. As one of them said to me in the Members' Lobby afterwards: "It was a chance for the working-class boys to get one over on the public schoolboys." And of course he wasn't just talking about Tories.
Therefore the debacle of the Martin Speakership this is actually one of Gordon's very own making - and I say this as someone who is normally more sypathetic to Brown than Blair.
I was in the Lobby at the time Martin was elected Speaker, and it is fair to say it was not a particularly popular appointment. The man's guiding principle throughout his political career seems to have been that, whatever the problem, it's the press that are to blame, and in that sense, what he has been saying this afternoon comes as no great surprise.
Many moons ago, when Martin was chairman of the Scottish Affairs committee, a Scottish political reporter who has himself also now left the Lobby accidentally stepped over the 'line' separating the press bench from the clerk's table in order to retrieve some papers. He dropped Martin a private note apologising for this minor misdemeanour, but it wasn't enough. Martin ordered my former colleague to perform a grovelling apology in front of the entire committee. Today showed he's not changed.
Wrinkled Weasel
Hopefully it will be a Glasgow Kismet.
@ Anonymous 5:07 PM
"There are still millions of trade unionists in this country do you apply the same bigoted position to all of them?"'The working class can kiss my arse I've got the Speaker's job at last.'
Having watched his grumpy and ill-advised despatching of Norman Baker and Kate Hoey this afternoon, it made me think that he was like the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal from the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - he seems to think that if he can't see why this stuff has damaged the credibility of Parliament and politicians, then it won't engulf him.
Pity there isn't a procedure to drag a Speaker from his chair.....
Speaker Martin has form in bringing the police into the Commons. This alone should be enough to persuade MPs to back Carswell's motion of no confidence because he is there to protect MPs' right to represent their constituents against abuses of power.
Off-topic - apologies:
Iain, can you get someone to create a Google gadget that automagically provides the code to embed your latest radio broadcast - for bloggers to incorporate on their sites?
I saw the statement online and have to say I thought he was absolutely terrible and MPs should (if they have any sense) try and get rid of him at the earlist opportunity. His views stunk of self-importance and disconnect from ordinary people. I could not believe he is allowed to come out with the attacks he did from the chair - I thought he was meant to be impartial???
Martin must go.
Donal has a nice homophobic take on it - http://scarymarytory.blogspot.com/2009/05/homophobic-conservative.html
Fausty, the embed code is on this page...
http://playradiouk.podbean.com/2009/05/09/the-politics-show-with-iain-dale-080509/
Angry. Frustrated. Ashamed. What on earth can we ordinary tax payers do to stop this? I had always thought that modernity had removed the English pre-disposition to go and and sort things out for themselves when the ruling class became complacently corrupt. So what is this burning ire I feel now for the first time in half a century? Speaker Martin is a disgrace. If something is not done soon to nip this (him)in the bud, then something may happen that we will all long rue. And I may be there doing it.
The Telegraph is reporting Senior Tory James Arbuthnot claimed twice for two second homes, and for his swimming pool to be cleaned at his £2M mansion!
He must resign or Cameron give him the boot!
Anon 5:07 pm
Do you feel stupid about your comment? If you don't, then can I suggest that you find out what Speaker Martin said. It is Gorbals Mick's own words to which Iain refers.
Paul Halsall
You are not understanding what people here are saying. They do support the institutions. The only way of doing so in this case is to criticise those who are debasing those institutions, such as Michael Martin who has shown contempt for the institution of Speaker since he has held that post and for the House itself ever since he became an MP.
In order to preserve an institution any attack on it must be addressed, and any change to it must be considered. Labour has not allowed either, atacking British institutions and changing them without any real consideration of the wider effects. Any dissent is met with contemptuous, vacuous assertions that only modernisation is good, a baseless assumption that anything old must be changed.
Michael Martin is just another ignorant Labour MP, who has no idea of the reasons for the traditions on which he tramples with such sneering contempt or the ramifications of his actions and words. Of course he doesn't care, as long as he gets what's coming to him.
Anon 5:07 pm
Do you feel stupid about your comment? If you don't, then can I suggest that you find out what Speaker Martin said. It is Gorbals Mick's own words to which Iain refers.
Paul Halsall
You are not understanding what people here are saying. They do support the institutions. The only way of doing so in this case is to criticise those who are debasing those institutions, such as Michael Martin who has shown contempt for the institution of Speaker since he has held that post and for the House itself ever since he became an MP.
In order to preserve an institution any attack on it must be addressed, and any change to it must be considered. Labour has not allowed either, atacking British institutions and changing them without any real consideration of the wider effects. Any dissent is met with contemptuous, vacuous assertions that only modernisation is good, a baseless assumption that anything old must be changed.
Michael Martin is just another ignorant Labour MP, who has no idea of the reasons for the traditions on which he tramples with such sneering contempt or the ramifications of his actions and words. Of course he doesn't care, as long as he gets what's coming to him.
Send him up to Scotland, I don't mind paying the fare for that one. "
No way!!
We dont want him either!
On a diferent note, until you lot of supine morris dancers get a LOCAL to rule over you, then I am afraid you will have to put up with being ruled by us "foreigners!"
Now I've heard the Speaker's quivering, self-serving, illiterate attack on concerned MPs and now I'm really, really angry."
I suggest you get over it, as we "foreigners" will be ruling over you shower of spineless cretins for a long long time!
If he is not got rid of as Speaker; perhaps we need to break the tradition that the Speaker is returned un-opposed ?
I am sure the other parties could agree on one candidate to stand against this moronic hoon; who is a disgrace to
Scotland
The UK
The House of Commons
the Trade Union movement
The Labour Party (even in its current state)
Thanks Iain - I already have that on my site. I'm talking about a sidebar gadget that automatically picks up the latest broadcast, just as the RSS feed gadget automatically picks up the latest blog title from subscribed blogs.
Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you.
He wanted to call the police to protect his own neck from future leaks. And because...
His judgment in this matter is clearly compromised as his own hand was caught in the cookie jar. Calling in the police on his own behalf is an abuse of power, due to bias and self preservation, not justice. He has vilified himself.
The Speaker needs replacing asap. The grime and corruption will be removed a little, and it will be a fresh start.
Anon and Tom: Iain is referring to the Speaker's outburst yesterday, when he said “I have been a trade unionist all my life. I did not come into politics not to take what is owed to me.” Which has a very special venality all its own.
Speaker Martin should resign... and I said earlier here: House of Commons Speaker Martin should resignDisgraceful!
I have only one thing to add to the excellent comments on this thread demanding that this particular, particularly tainted, rather corrupt old Labourite 'Speaker' resign and that's a question: is Paul Halsall actually mad?
"I'm a little taken aback that so many of your commentators seem to think that they are "conservatives". Instead many come across as nutter-right American conservatives. I expect fallacious talk about the origins of the Common Law and/or "black helicopters" to erupt soon." blah blah straw man blah loony right blah blah...etc etc.
Extraordinary. Seems he might be.
@Richard
I am not to keen on Speaker Martin either. But the comments here are not Tory in any way.
They are the whines of ultra-right Jacobins.
Every time it is suggested that Michael Martin the Speaker of the Commons be got rid of, the class warriors of Labour come out to defend him.
Well I am not afraid to say it, I would like to see him gone and my reasoning is all about class; his lack of it, he is the most classless, tactless and clueless individual to ever besmirch the role of Speaker.
Betty Boothroyd brought class to this job and she came from a humble background, it is within your character and transcends all prejudices.
Michael Martin the trade unionist has a lot in common with that would be Tory Toff James Grey, they both had "class" by-passes at birth.
Martin is clearly a twonk, but the whole lot of them have behaved appallingly. Many similarities with he banking crisis here, of course - greed overcoming common sense, everyone out for what they can get without a thought for the long term consequences, zero regulation and, perhaps worst of all, a catastrophic collapse in what little trust the public had in the culprits.
We've been here before, of course. Time for Magna Carta II, I think.
Taxi for Michael Martin
Where's PBC gone? This is a crisis of the political system and the site dedicated to betting on politics goes down? WTF?
New speaker Martin story?
Here.
JOSH - I worry that the lawyers at Carter-*uck or the Labour Government are trying to put it out of commission...
The man (a term applied in its loosest possible sense) is a complete hoon. Period
I see that the sentiment here largely mirrors that expressed on Douglas Carswell MP's site.
I hope that everyone pastes a link to his site on every blog that they frequent as I for one, would love to see the 'Get Rid of Gorbals Mick' campaign go viral on the blogosphere.
The man is an utter disgrace and it's shameful to have such an obvious crook as the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Whilst he is in place,there can be no reform.
He has to GO !
I wonder why ian hasn't blogged about tomorrows telegraph frontpage
Any of those justified ian ?
I look forward to your opinions
Richard
Actually it is not the Speaker's own words to which Iain Dale is referring - he is actually referring to different alleged words which the Speaker has denied actually saying. Go and look it up (even in the Daily Mail if you wish) before you call people stupid.
He was just using a misquote to yet again have another purely gratuitous dig at trade unionists which is actually of no relevance whatsoever to the point in question.
Anon 5:07pm
Did anyone catch Stephen Fry being interviewed briefly by Newsnight and sneering at the 'bourgoisie' who are so enraged at this troughing?
He said 'I've fiddled my expenses, journalists are the most venal, everyone has done it'.
Well, no, Mr Very Wealthy Fry, I never have.
Amd I am bitterly disappointed with James Arbuthnot, whom I knew well in his early years as an MP - oh dear.
The Chinese have a good and final way of dealing with corrupt politicians.
Simple comment:
Gormless from Gorbals.
We have had lots of bluster and a few lame apologies.
A Speaker who is simply a joke!
When are we going to get some real action!!!
These MPs who have made the rules/bent the rules are simply corrupt, they should be sacked.
Come on Cameron lets see some blood on the carpet.
Margaret Thatcher would have, in the words of Edwina Curry... "skinned them alive" by now.
Dave McSnooty better sort this out and PDQ.
There's only one Annabel but she must be getting tired of trashing Eck at PMQs without much support from Troughminster.
WV ellindim - a bit rough on girls called ellin!
Speaker Martin goes on the offensive. By being offensive. Time he went?Oh, yes. Time he went.
Cinna said...
From the Telegraph Blog:
Speaker Michael Martin (to another MP): "I have been a trade unionist all my life. I did not come into politics not to take what is owed to me."
It's time this odious man was shown the door. He has besmirched the office of Speaker for far too long.Yes, Cina! Exactly so! That is why Labour MPs have all four trotters firmly in the trough as they chow down on the swill!
Why they use their expenses to the max
Speaker Martin cannot get from one end of a sentence to the other with either his grammar, syntax or dignity intact. Epic fail.
@ Judith
At least, Arbuthnot has had the sense to say that he was wrong to make the claim and will be paying it back.
That takes moral courage, which absolves him to a small degree.
Will the MSM be acknowledging this fact? I doubt it.
Paul Halsall
Justify your assertion.
You say something that is on the surface contentious but also somewhat trite, yet make no attempt to back it with any kind of argument, even to refute my direct argument that you are wrong.
There is nothing even approaching extremism here. There is geniune anger, for very good reasons, that our democracy has been damaged by a nasty, vindictive, self-righteous, self-serving incompetent with an over-developed sense of entitlement who would not have been given any authority anywhere in the real world of competitive business; as a manager I certainly wouldn't be willing to employ him in any but the most menial job, simply because of his lack of any of the basic character required for a responsible
position. Yet you wave it off as "ultra-right". Andrew Klavan talked about that tactic http://preview.tinyurl.com/cylq3q
A little hint, I have answered you before, and every time it appears you don't actually understand the views of the people with whom you are taking issue. You then appear not to be able to understand my answers. Many on the left don't understand conservative or libertarian ideas, and dismiss them with a snide remark. You also appear to be rather young, so that you do the same is unsurprising. If I sound somewhat patronising here perhaps you might look over your post, and think why.
Anon 5:07
"different alleged words" ... different to what? They are the exact words to which I was referring.
Do you really believe the speaker's denial?
Why don't you put a pseudonym to your posts, or even god forbid your own name (yes, that is genuinely my name)? Wouldn't that make discussion simpler?
Why dont you have a debate with Simon Darby,Iain? i'm sure play radio could sort it they seem pretty flexible.
He should be careful about bringing the rozzers in. They might just nick him...
it has just been published that if maggie was running for pm now she would win(hypothetical and age adjusted).i wonder if the poll asked the same of blair, who installed all these useless people,what the result would be!
Martin must go! Pure and simple. Dereliction of duty.
No understanding of what his responsibilities really are. End.
Iain - there is one big gap in the coverage of this issue a focus on those MPs who have acted with integrity - there will be some who have. They really should be applauded as setting a good example and should not be tarred with the same brush as the others. Philip Hollobone is worthy of a mention for starters.
He is a disgrace and should go now!!
Please can someone remove this incompetent. Where is the whiskey and the revolver when you need it? He lost his rag and in an instance lost all credibility (the little he had anyway).
The Speaker should take a close look in a mirror to discover who is primarily responsible for the expenses debacle at Parliament Square. Of course he isn't alone in sharing this as previous Speakers also carry the can for not insisting that the Fees Office correctly apply the Green Book rules. Just because some of these are vague doesn't stop them being applied with both consistency and in the spirit in which the rules were devised. Unless, of course, the rules were devised expressly to be broken in which case Parliament has no defence at all and should 'fess up and implement change now.
If it is correct that the person directly in charge for the running of the Fees Office had been concerned about the system of expenses, why didn't he force the Speaker into a tightening up of the existing rules? "Boss says NO" simply isn't good enough in the 21st Century. Clearly the first thing required is to start again with the way that the Houses of Parliament are managed and administered - and that includes changes starting at the top. This is the only way to restore credibility in the system and persuade the general public that MPs are on the same playing field as the rest of us. The thrifty Scots have got it right - introduce transparency on expenses immediately, make MPs produce proper receipts for everything, and publish MP finance details every 3 months.
The simple truth is that Michael Martin just isn't much cop at anything.
@Richard
My comments were observations not assertions. If you want to argue in detail with me in quid pro quo detail you will have to do so on my blog.
@ Paul Halsall
So your comments here are simply a means of generating traffic?
Why not put up?
@Unsworth
Yep, that's right. I want to become the Labour Iain Dale.
Can't give you my view, swearing's not allowed on your blog...
Full footage of the McSpeakers outburst here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-xG3D8OMQk
Kate Hoey's a good egg while Martin's a thoroughly rotten one.
The sooner he's thrown out of office the better. If there's to be any inquiry - police or otherwise - into the dirty dealings we have all seen reported it MUST start with him.
He and his like have corroded and corrupted the entire body politic and the result is that never have the ordinary people despised Parliament, politics and politicians so much.
The fish rots from the head and the liars and crooks at the head of UK plc need their comeuppance.
A few meaningful prison sentences for misuse of public funds would be an excellent start.
@ Paul Halsall
- So a triumph of hope over experience, then. We can but wait....
Paul Halsall
Whjy would I argue on your blog against observations you made here?
Observations that only go to show your own blinkers. You are observing through the prism of your own assumptions. Still of course those that disagree with you are necesarily extremists, in other words you are saying "shut up".
A world class creep with an ego to match.
A Brown stooge if ever there was.
The BBC weatherperson Thonas Schafenacker once referred to Scotland as 'Nowheresville'.
Speaker Martin, Alastair Darling and Gordon Broon should be offered internal exile in Nowheresville.
The Crankies would have made a better job of moderating Parliament.
I'm not anti-Scot, I just don't want my country damaged by imbeciles.
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