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Opposition MPs line up to denounce wounded Speaker
Joe Murphy14.05.09
Top Conservative and Liberal Democrat frontbenchers today joined unprecedented moves to oust Michael Martin.
David Cameron pointedly refused to endorse the Speaker, while Nick Clegg gave permission to his shadow cabinet to denounce him in public.
Both opposition parties are likely to deprive Mr Martin of their formal support in a confidence vote expected to be held next week. That would leave Gordon Brown and the Labour whips as the Speaker's main champions, a situation that Tories and Liberal Democrats believe would damage the Prime Minister in the eyes of a public sickened by Westminster sleaze.
Asked if Mr Cameron would take part in the confidence vote, his spokesman would only say: “We support the office of Speaker.”
That pointedly failed to help Mr Martin, who is accused of blocking vital reforms to the Commons pay and expenses system that might have reduced the scale of the scandal. It is claimed he stopped attempts by a Labour MP to close a tax loophole by which MPs can avoid paying capital gains tax by flipping the location of their second home.
A straw poll for BBC2's Newsnight found that 48 out of 173 MPs said they had lost confidence in Mr Martin as Speaker — 68 declined to answer.
Mr Clegg's senior lieutenants unleashed an unprecedented assault against a sitting Speaker today.
Health spokesman Norman Lamb, home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne and transport spokesman Norman Baker all openly called on him to stand down.
Mr Lamb said: “The final straw came on Monday when he attacked backbenchers in Parliament over this whole expenses debacle. He lost his authority and his impartiality, which comes on top of his role in seeking to prevent publication of the expenses.”
