The Speaker: Off with his head! (and don't forget the Fees Office)

[Azrael]

Perhaps, but every little helps.

 

[tbaldwin]

I think the Speaker does bear responsibility for the rather secretive snouts-in-the-trough system that has now been exposed. However, he most certainly does not bear responsibility alone.

MPs now baying for Michael Martin's blood make an ugly spectacle. Some of the people calling for Martin to be ousted may be among the decent MPs, but if (as is claimed) many MPs are going to rally to the anti-Martin cause, it will look like (fuck it! It will be) a bunch of greedy frightened gits hoping that by sacrificing Martin they can make themselves look less disgusting to their constituents.

And a fair few will be scared that the sudden interest in the ehtics of MPs might mean them having to give up various directorships and second,third and fourth jobs....For now they can rely on the Telegraph to set the agenda but for how much longer?

 

[Nemo]

And a fair few will be scared that the sudden interest in the ehtics of MPs might mean them having to give up various directorships and second,third and fourth jobs....For now they can rely on the Telegraph to set the agenda but for how much longer?

IIRC, Michael Portillo was saying last week that at some point soon, MPs are going to have to account for all their additional income, although presumably when that happens, there will be a marked decrease in interest from certain sections of the press. It's all been too long coming imo.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

If/when Martin is forced out, he would probably sit as an independent if he didn't stand down straight away - the convention is that the Speaker normally takes no part in party politics when they leave the job (in the Lords they usually sit as crossbenchers), so I can't see him re-entering the PLP. A peerage would be mandatory though, even for someone as tarnished as he is.

Surely, though, if it's a convention, and not a 'constitutional', statutory requirement, then they can tell him to p!ss off to back to obscurity and refuse to let him bury his snout in the upper house's gravy train?

 

[Nemo]

Surely, though, if it's a convention, and not a 'constitutional', statutory requirement, then they can tell him to p!ss off to back to obscurity and refuse to let him bury his snout in the upper house's gravy train?

I suspect a peerage might be necessary in order to get him to go quietly. It would also probably be impolitic for the government not to offer him one.

 

[Wilf]

Here's another one - this time a member of the Campaign Group:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...laims-35000-for-flats-11-miles-from-home.html

eta - and the latest is tht the person charged with bollocking overclaiming Labour MPs, Nick Brown, has had nearly 19 grand of unreceipted food for his second home. Its almost almost

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Here's another one - this time a member of the Campaign Group:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...laims-35000-for-flats-11-miles-from-home.html

eta - and the latest is tht the person charged with bollocking overclaiming Labour MPs, Nick Brown, has had nearly 19 grand of unreceipted food for his second home. Its almost almost

...Mr Austin said: “The move was for a valid reason and I do not think it inappropriate for costs associated with the move to be claimed from the allowance. I checked with the authorities that it was reasonable to leave behind the kitchen units, fridge/freezer and washing machine...

So, basically, he got all the white goods paid for by the taxpayer, and then when he moved, instead of taking them with him to the new place, he sold them on to the purchaser?

Don't contracts spell out what's the actual purchase price and the price for 'fixtures and fittings' that are also being included?

Wonder if the purchasers of his flat are a bit p!ssed off to find out that they've paid for those white goods twice over, once as part of their property purchase, and once as taxpayers paying for them as part of his expenses?

 

[Streathamite]

I think the Speaker does bear responsibility for the rather secretive snouts-in-the-trough system that has now been exposed. However, he most certainly does not bear responsibility alone.

given that the fees/claims office reports to him and him alone, who else is responsible? we've always known MPs are/can be like this, here the fault is the policing of the system

 

[London_Calling]

Well, he survived 24 hours longer than I thought he would:

Speaker to step down:

Michael Martin is understood to be preparing to announce he will stand down as Commons Speaker.

The announcement is set to be made in the House of Commons later.

 

[JHE]

given that the fees/claims office reports to him and him alone, who else is responsible? we've always known MPs are/can be like this, here the fault is the policing of the system

If you were burgled or robbed, you might criticise the police for not doing enough to stop crime or not doing enough to bring the culprits to court, but I think that you would primarily blame the burglars and robbers.

Michael Martin has been crappy and he's had his snout in the trough. He's not alone.

I blame the following:

1. The people (successive governments and oppositions?) who designed the current rules as a way of giving MPs an extraordinarily high income, while keeping the headline salary lower (though £65k is very high by most people's standards)
2. The dishonest MPs: crooks who have cheated and lied (probably a smallish group)
3. Their colleagues who have worked within the rules, but have been taking the piss - for example, by flipping which home counts as the second home
4. Their colleagues who have just allowed themselves to slip into claiming all their bloody groceries, for example.
5. MPs and others who have known the way it works but have not objected.

Additionally, there are two other groups, though very much overlapping with the above:

a. Governments who have allowed or encouraged the growth in income inequality over the past three decades
b. Politicians who tell themselves and each other that they are 'professionals'. One of the meanings of the slippery term 'professional' is 'Gimme, gimme, gimme!' MPs are sent to the HofC to represent their constituents, not to tell themselves that they should get what a City banker gets and pay themselves accordingly on the quiet.

 

[Quartz]

The BBC says that Dr Taylor is in the running to succeed him. If Dr Taylor does become Speaker, will he be addressed as 'Mr Speaker' or 'Dr Speaker'?

 

[Nemo]

The BBC says that Dr Taylor is in the running to succeed him. If Dr Taylor does become Speaker, will he be addressed as 'Mr Speaker' or 'Dr Speaker'?

Mister Speaker. Horace King was a PhD, and afaik, he was called 'Mister Speaker.'