MICHAEL Martin should resign as Speaker of the House of Commons. At this extraordinary moment in the history of British politics, the times demand it. And if Martin can't see this, he is a fool.
I say this with something of a heavy heart. The way Martin was treated by the London establishment when elected to the Speaker's chair in October 2000 exhibited class snobbery at its most pungent. Every time the "Gorbals Mick" moniker was used – it w
as designed to be said with a sneer – many Scots, myself included, bristled. Every time a public schoolboy Tory MP tittered about Martin's accent or made jokes about the need for subtitles, we reached for our metaphorical pitchforks.
What irked the most was the assumption underpinning the snide insults – the assumption that jobs like Speaker of the House of Commons were not meant to be held by people like Michael Martin. After all, he was a working class Catholic Scot, to name the three black marks against him in the eyes of a certain type of Neanderthal parliamentarian. It wasn't just the old-school Tories who were at fault. The same sentiments, only slightly shaded, could be heard from certain smooth, middle-class Labour politicians as well. You know who you are, and you should be ashamed.
Since then, Martin has squandered his store of goodwill. Again and again he has acted to keep the House of Commons a closed club that operates under its own arcane rules away from the gaze of the public it is intended to serve. Attempts by freedom of information campaigners such as Heather Brooke – the unsung hero of this saga – to get access to MPs' claims were fought aggressively by Martin in the courts. His Pavlovian reaction to the first Daily Telegraph exposés was to call in the police to hunt down the source of the leaked receipts. And last week he spectacularly failed to comprehend the depth of public anger when he lashed out incoherently at MPs who questioned if he'd got his priorities right.
Partly through his own actions, and partly because he is the man who happens to be at the helm of a toxic system at a time when its toxicity has become gruesomely clear, Martin is now a symbol of the ills of British politics. This alone is reason for him to go. The problem is bigger than one man, but one man has come to be seen as the problem. And public confidence cannot begin to return to the Commons until he goes.
This weekend Martin is fighting back, drawing attention to reforms proposed last summer by a parliamentary committee he chaired, but which were voted down on the floor of the House. It is a point in his favour but it is not enough. If he had the charm of a Betty Boothroyd or the authority of a George Thomas – two Speakers from humble roots who earned respect and affection across political and class boundaries – he might be better placed this weekend. He has neither, and he has to go.
Let no-one underestimate the damage that needs to be repaired. Amid all the revelations about moats, helipads, swimming pools and £8,865 flat-screen TVs there have been some surprising names. How disappointing to see Tam Dalyell, a doughty champion of inconvenient truths, listed in the litany of rogues. Two months before he stepped down as an MP it seems he attempted to claim £18,000 for bookcases to store the Hansards that recorded his many honourable exploits in the Commons. The irony is that the bookcases will forever be a grubby coda to his lustrous career.
No party is immune. The SNP's Alex Salmond still has to explain why he claimed £800 for food during a two-month parliamentary recess. Was this money really spent on food, or was Salmond simply milking the allowances system to maximise his earnings? And what about his claim of £540 for bed linen for his one-bedroom studio flat in Dolphin Square.What exotic material was Alex's quilt cover made from? The hand-stitched pelts of Highland wildcats? Fine threads spun from Sandi Thom's belly button fluff?
More will be expected of our politicians in the future, both individually and collectively. But first things first. Michael Martin faces a vote of no confidence in the Commons this week. If the public had a vote there'd be no prizes for guessing the outcome. And yet if I was a betting man, I'd wager that he will survive the vote.
Why? Because neither Labour nor the Tories believe it is in their narrow party political interests for him to go. The last thing Gordon Brown wants is another Glasgow by-election contest against the SNP. And the Tories want to hold off on electing a new Speaker until they have their anticipated Commons majority after the general election. If a vote for Speaker was held tomorrow, the likely victor would be John Bercow, a Tory MP who was once rumoured to be considering defecting to the Labour party. David Cameron would rather have someone of a truer blue in the Speaker's chair.
Brown and Cameron risk intensifying the public's anger. How will voters react if Martin does indeed survive this week's vote? They will quite reasonably assume that MPs, when given a chance to sweep the stables with a new broom, decided not to bother. MPs have only scratched the surface of the public's disdain for the political class. Parliament needs new leadership now. And it will only get it if Brown and Cameron recognise the need for a new Speaker.
What is required is that rarest of breeds, a politician who is popular with the public, who has authority, who has a good mind and a store of common sense. And perhaps someone who's also a dab hand at ballroom dancing. Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, your country needs you.
The full article contains 997 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
