Lib Dem leader: Speaker 'very wrong' over expenses

Published on Tuesday 12 May 2009 14:11

OPEN criticism of Commons Speaker Michael Martin escalated today as Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said his handling of the latest expenses crisis had been "very wrong".

Mr Martin angrily slapped down MPs, including Lib Dem Norman Baker, who challenged him yesterday as he made an emergency statement on the situation – sparking threats of a no-confidence motion in the Speaker.

Asked about the performance, Mr Clegg suggested he should have reflected the need for Parliament to apologise to voters over the use of taxpayer-funded allowances.

"I think the Speaker got it wrong, very wrong," he said.

"It is clear Parliament as a whole owes an apology to the British public. He needs to reflect that sense of apology and the urgency for new rules that put MPs beyond any further suspicion."

Tory MP Douglas Carswell is seeking six fellow MPs to support a no-confidence motion in an attempt to oust Mr Martin.

Despite long-running disquiet about Mr Martin among backbenchers, it is notoriously difficult for MPs to oust a sitting Speaker because of the power he has in the chamber.

But Mr Carswell said last night: "Events this afternoon have probably made my job a little easier.

"It is because of this man that we have got into this situation.

"Anyone who is capable of doing the job would have seen all of this coming and realised that in a modern democracy we need transparency.

"I would hope that I could find 1% of parliamentarians to support me."

Mr Martin, who has long faced criticism for fighting greater openness over MPs' expenses, was visibly infuriated when he was challenged over the decision to refer the expenses leak to the police.

Labour backbencher Kate Hoey said the inquiry was an "awful waste of money" at a time when the police already had a "huge job" to do in London.

She was cut short by Mr Martin who told her: "I just say to you, it's easy to say to the press 'This should not happen'. It's a wee bit more difficult when you just don't have to give quotes to the press and do nothing else.

"Some of us in this House have other responsibilities."

Mr Baker – another critic of the way that the House handled the issue – described Mr Martin's response as "disgraceful".

"The Speaker's job is to lead the House of Commons in a constructive way and to recognise the need to unite the House and to recognise the genuine concerns of the public," he said.

"Instead, he appeared to be defending vested interests. I thought it was disgraceful the way that he dealt with Kate Hoey in particular."