MP to launch bid to oust Speaker

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Tory MP Douglas Carswell said he is actively canvassing colleagues from all parties to support his attempt to oust Mr Martin.

He broke ranks after the Speaker slapped down MPs for challenging him in the Commons over the handling of the expenses row.

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.

Mr Carswell accused the Speaker of failing to protect the reputation of MPs by introducing the necessary reforms of the system before the current controversies came to light.

"I'm fed up with my friends regarding me as a crook for doing my job," Mr Carswell said. "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.

"He failed to do that, but it's not just expenses - he has failed to make sure that as MPs we can hold the Government to account."

Mr Carswell said he was seeking six fellow MPs to support his motion before tabling it next week.

Labour peer Lord Foulkes has come to the Speaker's defence, dismissing Mr Carswell's motion as an irrelevance and saying Mr Martin was "quite right" to rebuke Ms Hoey and Mr Baker in the Commons.

Lord Foulkes told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Douglas Carswell has put down an early-day motion. There are more than 1,000 of those out, most of them congratulating their local football team on promotion. Can you remember one being debated, let alone being voted upon? I think you and others are stirring things up deliberately by interviewing people like Douglas Carswell, a very new member."