Commons Speaker defies quit calls

The Glasgow North East MP was cheered as he took his place in the chamber after a torrid weekend of newspaper headlines.

Critics have urged him to hand over control of the review after fresh questions arose about allowances claimed by him and his wife, Mary.

The disclosure that his office deceived the public over Mrs Martin's taxpayer-funded taxi journeys caused his spokesman, Mike Granatt, to resign for "ethical reasons" at the weekend.

But Mr Martin told the Commons: "This House has charged me with a responsibility and I will carry out that duty until this House decides otherwise - and that is a good thing for the reputation of this House."

Support for the under-fire speaker had earlier been led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said the former sheet metal worker enjoyed "enormous respect" for his time in the role.

"I think most people know that Michael Martin, the Speaker, has been, and is, a very good Speaker," he told Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky. "He obviously brings a huge amount of experience from things that he's done earlier in his life to the job and I think you'll find that there's an enormous respect for what he's achieved as the Speaker."

Questions over the claiming of allowances were "a matter for the House of Commons", he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said there had been "something of a witch-hunt" against Mr Martin and Labour MP John Spellar warned of an "attempted coup" by the media.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is being urged to investigate the revelation that Mrs Martin was not accompanied on the taxi rides by a Commons official, as journalists had been told. There was also concern over Mr Martin's use of the second-home allowance after it emerged that he has no mortgage on a property for which he has claimed more than £75,000 to maintain. He is already under fire for using air miles earned on official business to pay for flights by family members.