A third term for the Speaker?

Diswiss

The absolute utter, shameless, arrogance of the man...

bill

Could Martin be put on trial, or be impeached?

His task is to protect Parliament ie us, and he failed.

Ray

After all the parliamentary conventions this ghastly man has driven a coach and horses through, surely it's time for someone to do likewise with another parliamentary convention and to run against Gorbals Mick in Glasgow North East.

Where's Martin Bell when you need him?

David Boothroyd

No Speaker has in fact run unopposed for their Parliamentary seat since 1931.

mac

The execrable Brown's every move is determined by his own self-regard. Frightened that the Speaker's exit might be painted as successful Tory pressure, he expresses his 'confidence' in the dreadful Martin.

So, Gordon has spoken. Martin's one of us. (And isn't he just?) The PLP gravy-trainers won't support Marshall-Andrews once Brown N. and his feral cronies have 'had a word'.

Andy Leeds

One is not surprised. Once he has his fat snout in the trough he was bound to eat all he can. He is the worse Speaker in living memory. Not only is he stupid (read the statement from last week to see that), he is very partisan and has allowed the House to be abused by an arrogant bulling Government. Enough is enough. He should go.

JimBob

Its not the worst thing in the world for the Tories if this clown sticks around, as he embodies everything that is bad about Labour-incompetence, dishonesty, hypocrisy, entitlement, etc.

His refusal to take any sort of responsibility for his failures means that, like Ed Balls, he will become a walking-talking vote winner for the conservative party.

Anthony

If Mick decided to brazen it out and run for a third term, I'm fairly sure that he wouldn't be unopposed.

John Page

Heard speculation (can't remember where) that the SNP would run against him if he stood in the next general election.

And why not?

SannyMac

I think we can take it as a given that an SNP candidate will run against "Gorbals Mick". Indeed i expect they will run against the entire Scottish branch of the Labour Party, what's more they will win many of those seats.
Labour's fifty year of unquestioned support in Scotland is over - they have been found out and will be treated as the Tory's were after Thacher.
Scotland is unlikely to forget Brown's 'scorched earth' policy in betrayal of people of his homeland.

JohnAnt

"It is time to say firmly to Michael Martin that enough is enough!"
Yours truly,
The Most Honourable Rob. Mugabe (Pres.)

wight tory

The thing that really got to me during last weeks announcement, was that "he was going to introduce measures that a warrent was required to open the PoW to the police, that if done properly to begin with was always the case. Even if its in writing, not following convention will always create an "Ed" up....

Me thinks he's been let of the hook.

Verity

If he runs unopposed, "... he will become a walking-talking vote winner for the conservative party."

JimBob - Surely you overestimate the interest the average Brit takes in the niceties of Parliament? If 30% of them could even name the speaker, never mind cite his record, I would be astonished.

Michael Booth

David Boothroyd
December 7th, 2008 12:30pm

No Speaker has in fact run unopposed for their Parliamentary seat since 1931.

True David - but about time, don't you think?

Verity

If the Speaker's standing again, tht means he must be running short of free - but taxpayer owned - airmiles to fly his extended family down from Glasgow free.

Did he ever pay that money that he took from the taxpayers back, btw?

George Laird

Dear All

Things look bad for Michael Martin but the Tories haven’t raised a motion of no confidence.

This has to be done, why walk away for the decision?

Cameron and Clegg should have been garnering support than approached Martin privately; if Martin wasn’t prepared to go then a motion should have been tabled.

“Despite his cynical attempts at buck-passery, the heat's still not off Michael Martin”.
Enough is enough, bad enough to put up with a partisan Speaker but one who will not defend the House, no!

“Numerous MPs across the House are thought to be, at best, underwhelmed - and, at worst, disgusted - by his actions before, during and after the police raid on Damian Green's parliamentary office”.

Michael Martin lacks commonsense and has no sense of the history and significance of what Parliament actually stands for.

“A survey of MPs by the Beeb puts some numbers on the discontent: of 130 Parliamentarians, 32 said they have no confidence in the Speaker, against 56 who still have confidence in him. On a separate question, 50 thought Martin culpable over the search of Green's office”.

Martin has to do and the removal of the Speaker should have been included in the debate.

“One thing that may have been holding back Martin's detractors - and even those 56 who apparently have confidence in him - is the widely held supposition that he'll step down at the next election”.

£138,000 plus expenses plus luxury apartment in Central London folks!

“They'd better think again. According to the Sunday Times, Martin is prepared to stand for a third term as Speaker. It would be a shameless move, but who can really blame him? A third term would see him run unopposed for his constituency seat, and he'd get that generous £78,575 on top of his MPs' salary for another four years”.

Yes, the financial is very tempting for a man who is employed because he is nothing more than a stooge, where outside Government can a stooge make that money?

“It's up to his detractors - and particularly his Labour detractors - to kick up enough of a fuss that his re-selection becomes politically impossible. Then again, I'm not sure Martin would take political impossibility into account”.

Who but an out and out cretin would be prepared to vote someone like Martin back in, it would be better if he was defended at the Ballot box in Glasgow North East.

I am poor working class Glaswegian and even I recognise that Martin is too much of a liability to continue.

Finally, is it not rather disappointing that the Tories haven’t called publicly in the Chamber of the House of Commons for Martin to stand down.

Such inaction makes Cameron look rather weak.

Perhaps Cameron should see Baldrick,; he may have a cunning plan!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

JimBob

Verity,

Gorbals' antics are prime tabloid fodder so if they don't know him they soon will, and no one likes a politician on the take, particularly in times like these