• Profile: Former metal worker who took a beating
• Evening Standard comment: If the Speaker will not jump, push him
• The secret vote to select Speaker's successor
• Farewell to men in tights and the cosy gentlemen’s club
• Gordon Brown sets up punishment panel for expense cheats
• Moat expenses MP says sorry and steps down
• Who could restore Parliament’s reputation?
• Commentary: Man made to deliver his own death blow

Reader views (136)

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Brown Cameron and all the Shambolic Chaotic Shambles of Mismanagement


Should not and cannot get away with pointing the finger of blame



at others, when they themselves the 'So called masters' of these



puppets, along with their poison'est inner circle of vipers (who know who they




are! We know who they are. Laying low like the vipers they are until the storm blows




over, but always ready to strike with forked tongue their defense and evil
manipulations)



Enough Enough Enough l say! and We have had enough.



l HAVE SAID BEFORE THEIR IS ONE PERSON I WOULD LOVE ALL PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THEIR COMMENTS IN THE STANDARD OVER THE PASSED TWO WEEKS....

THEIR COMMENTS WHICH ARE MANY ARE A JOY TO READ IN POETIC FORMAT
THEY GO UNDER' UNKUTTDIAMOND ' I URGE YOU TO LOOK THIER COMMENTS OUT

- J Durnford, plymouth

Firstly I find it a bit rich that MP's are asking him to resign - it was they who started all this by being thieves. Secondly it strikes me as a bit of a deflection tactic from the real source of the problem - the MP's

- Andrew Robertson, London

No! Martin is not responsible for the MPs beheviour. They are each responsible for their own crimes.
Martin and the GUILTY MPs should be band from any responsible office for TEN YEARS, and all monies repaid, and substancial fines imposed (in accordence to their position). Should this have been a Benefit Fraud then the courts would have imposed a criminal sentence, with a record. These MPs should consider themselves lucky that they aren't being taken to court, for public fraud. Because those who escape sentencing by extraordinery verbal blag, will certainly be dealt with by the general public, and not leintly.

- A Winsley, London

I agree, it should be an elected second chamber. Come to that an elected PM would be nice.

- Sean, London

He is not taking the fall for all MPs, he is leaving because he was simply not up to the job.
As for Mr Martinn being automatically elevated to the House of Lords, what stronger argument could there be for the abolition of the House os Lords in its present form.
What is needed is a wholly elected second chamber with real legislative powers.

- Warren Hertzberg, London

This failure of a speaker is not being made a scapegoat for the failings of MP,s. He is being made to resign for his utter and abject failure to do his job. He is at the very heart of this sickening mess and is just the start of things to come. Now he has gone the rest need not think they can relax. They can't. Every thieving MP had better look out or resign now.

- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand

What fall with a £three million pension plus plus

- Peter, Camberley UK

Take the Fall - he should have b....y well jumped. The bad apple contains a lot of maggots and we need to get rid of the lot before we elect the next parliament.

- G.A.Gilmartin, Bristol,

Did I hear anything about MPs pensions?

- Timc, London

Gorbals mick is to politics what Bernard Manning was to racial harmony.

- Jacob, Canterbury Kent

PROTOTYPICAL ENGLISHMAN!!!!!! HEAR HEAR!!!

- Annie, croydon

I feel sorry for Martin - he was Speaker, not a chief executive for the Commons so the accountability is spread far wider than him and MPs know this, which is why >95% of them did not sign for a vote of no confidence. Yes, he had to go because he was out of his depth in this crisis (which the MPs sitting around him created!), but so do those MPs in all parties who have defrauded us the taxpayer and I didn't see Brown, Cameron or Clegg demanding that their own MPs resign forthwith. We are mugs as voters if we feel any satisfaction so far with this - we will only have full redress when all appropriate resignations, deselections, sackings and court sentences have been achieved for guilty MPs.

- Jim, london

Lets get one thing straight, Michael Martin did not go as an attonement for the sins of all MPs, he went because he was a Labour muppet, and the worst Speaker the Commons has ever seen. Together with the Labour party he has overseen two illegal wars, a constant barrage on Civil Liberties and a flagrant disregard for fabric of democracy, why he even had intentions to make the post of Speaker a hereditary one. And as for his constituents cocmplaining that he's been made a scapegoat, well they're only worried that the Scotch gravy train is about to come to an end.

- Jeremiah, London

No doubt he claimed his sword on his expenses!
He should not be the only one to go indeed if any MP has broken the law over expense claims these past 12 years they should face criminal charges. I only hope that this recent publicty on how they have fleeced us over the years is maintained for a long time to come.

- Mike, London England

Q. Should Michael Martin take the fall for all MPs?

A. No, as all MPs are individually responsible for their own actions. That said, Mr Martin MUST go anyway as I believe that the Speaker is "supposed" to represent "the people" in the House of Commons and he has apparently, glaringly failed to do so on a regular ongoing basis in respect of the MP's Expenses Scandal.

- Fraser, Telford Park

Wait till you see his final pay-off; he never went lightly.

MPs are like Bankers; both professions are expert tax payer screwer’s.

- Mickyinlondon, london

Take him out of the picture, and put in a new headmaster, will only help to show us mugs that something is being done by the men at the top.

Reality is, it's back to normal, once the fuss is over.

A pay rise will follow once the clouds have cleared as expenses was a part of the wages when it was introduced.

- Sharad Parikh, Purley, Surrey

In a previous post Val you stated you work(ed) for your local labour party. What a job, posting labour spin from your second home in Spain.

- Chris, Rochester

If this man had been honourable to begin with Val then he would not be in this mess in the first place. Was it not mr martin who claimed money for his wifes taxis. The rules for expenses are quite clear - GO READ. We do not need another quango with a brown appointed bum chum taking a fat salary and pension for doing nothing. Gormless brown cannot even run the post office let alone the country.

- Chris, Rochester

If this man had been honourable to begin with Val then he would not be in this mess in the first place. Was it not mr martin who claimed money for his wifes taxis. The rules for expenses are quite clear - GO READ. We do not need another quango with a brown appointed bum chum taking a fat salary and pension for doing nothing. Gormless brown cannot even run the post office let alone the country.

- Chris, Rochester

Am I the only one to realise Val isn't real? The Val persona is a front like Borat. No one real could hold those views. Especially since they probably made their money under the Tories. It has to some sort of act. I read once Robert Redford used to stand in rubbish bins so he could see people's reaction. Val is just doing the same thing. It's like a work of modern art.

- Sean, London

Tax evasion is a crimminal offence. If you lie about your expenses its called 'gross misconduct" in industry, result = fired, no pay off. If you work in banking, you will never work there again! If you are a Chartered Accountant you are chucked out. Uniquely none of this applies to MP's ..why? Smell rotten fish?

- James Ritchie, Oyster Bay Cove, NY

are any of you writers out there listening?cameron puts on a serious face and lo and behold the torys are saints. hes done precious little to stamp out corruption in his party. im watching brown now. as much as i hate him the last 24 hours have be intresting. i hate labour even more but keep an eye on brown. hes up to something

- Mikeeee, peterborough uk

£65k a year pension! So that's roughly equivalent to having saved a pension pot of £2m. That's a nice retirement gift, courtesy of you and me - because he's not had to save a penny for it. Nice work if you can get it.

- Da, london

I feel sick. Martin is going but he's still a big winner, a generous pension for a failure. Now, since they are changing the expenses system, I reckon this will be good timing also to look at the civil servants/MPS' gold-plated pensions structure. The two tiers pension system between Government/public sector is unfair and unjust. Why should we pay for others pensions?

- K Lee, Cheshunt, UK

Wasn't there something once said, by someone, somewhere, about 'taking the log out of your own eye' first? Forgive me, but I may be wrong.

- Mark, Venice, Italy

seriously why does he have to take the blame, all the commoner including the Home secretary would claimed shamefully should step down, there idea of this individual responsibility needs to stop, every man for is own self......................

- Funmi, london

Being part of the problem, clearly, he should go. But there really is a touch of the scapegoat syndrome here. Almost to a man/woman, MP's have worn out the "I did nothing wrong" platitude and they are now blaming the Speaker for allowing them to do it. The Green Book is quite clear in its rules that expenses should be claimed with honesty and integrity for those articles wholly for the carrying out of parliamentary ministerial duties. All are guilty, so all must go.

- Brianonthecam, Cambridge UK

Good riddance to him - hope Gordon is the next one to go.

- Richard, Surrey

Should not MPs pay interest on their inappropriate expense claims? I don't suppose even one MP has added interest voluntarily. Just repaying the original sum is not enough. How about adding 50% to the sums to reinforce the lesson?

- Peter Collings, Salisbury UK

Yes Val, I reckon by next Tuesday everyone will have forgotten the whole silly expenses thing, all MPs will be honest again (apart from the dastardly Tories of course), the economy will be booming and we'll all be sorry we ever criticised Gordon.

- Kevin T, Beckenham, Kent

As a result, the name Nick Cleg MP will go down in the annals of ‘British History’ as being the only MP who had the courage of his convictions to do his job, by calling for the speaker to resign.

- Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset

Amen.

- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk.

notice how many labore bods have said that they wont vote a tory in as speaker.the reason they cant is due to the fact that the speaker will stop the spin and lies.

- David Fitzgerald, coventry,england

#Alan Hill

And amen to that. My retirement income is taxed in the UK, and so is my husband's. I would sooner give my taxes to Michael Martin as a leaving gift to thank him for his 30 years' service to the British people, than give one cent to David 'come lately' Cameron and his ilk. Does anyone realise that with house prices in UK still falling, even fewer people will be eligible for the reduction in inheritance tax winging its way to the wealthiest 1% of people in the UK if the Conservatives are elected. You can be sure that the first thing that will be abolished will be the minimum wage. David Cameron would rather point his front bench MPs (Michael Gove, Ed Vaisey, et al) in the direction of his mother-in-law's upper class emporium, so they can spend thousands on their second homes at our expense, than pay hospital cleaners and carers a living wage. It was ever so. Sadly, the British people have such short memories. No wonder he wants an election now. His ratings are slipping, the economy is improving, the corrected details on expenses are shortly to be published, including those Conservative receipts the DT chose not to print; this may be his best chance.

- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain

a fair start, there are a good few others who should
follow suit, but somehow i doubt there'l be a clamourous
rush for the exit in the near future. honour, justice and
magnanimity are rare and much missed qualities these days.

- M.O'Brien, london.uk

Due to all that has gone on in the House relating to expences calaimed by a large number of MPs only one thing should now happen call an election ASP so everyone gets a chance to vote in new members and then home the new Goverment can sort out all the mess left behind if you were in any other type of employment you would be sacked on the spot,thank gode this speaker of the House is going not before time.

- Joe Darby, Bicester UK

Fantastic - apparently it was entirely his fault that our hard working MP's were forced to claim for; spurious mortgages, tennis courts, horse manure etc.
Now we just need to have a general election and re elect the current MPs (give or take a few), they will then all be absolved from the wrong doing of the previous parliament and the whole thing can be forgotten about without having to mess too much with petty rules!!

- Jon Morten, Cheddar Somerset

A pension of £65,000 a year! Plus the added perks if he goes to the House of Lords. What's he got to complain about: he's laughing.

- Janet, London, UK

I see the Tories continually calling for a general election and why? because the perception, especially amongst the brain dead who read the standard, is that it will result in those nice sleaze free Tories winning a landslide. Whilst true (the landslide bit), it will just mean the scum that have been stuffing their snouts with our money will continue to do so and even more of them will then be able to do it. yes New labour has let us down, but don't think the Tories will be any better, they are parasites on the nation, always were, always will be.

- Kerry, Purley

The Speaker "fell on his sword". Pity it didn't pierce his rhinocerous hide.

- Judith C, London,England

I hope all the people, who apparently queued up to shake his hand, counted their fingers afterwards.

- .Lezli Taubler, London / UK

Betty Boothroyd was the Speaker before Michael Martin. Ann Widdecombe might a suitable contender.

- Trish, London

What a dreadful speaker and greedy self seeking man,pushed on us by G.Brown....let us hope more greedy ,immoral Mps will also go!!

- Jean, London England

One less in a nest of vipers. It has gone beyond the need for an election. The democratic will of the people can only be served by bringing all thees venal creatures to justice. All should be banned from further office and their parties fined to extinction and outlawed.Without a written and truly democratic constitution Britain will continue to decline into the slime.

- Bring The Thieves To Justice Rick, High Wycombe UNUNITED KINGDOM

Regardless of the current crisis he was a shockingly partisan speaker. Good riddance.

- Bruce, London

I expect that MPs are hoping that the Speaker's scalp plus a couple of others will be enough to pacify the electorate. Well they're wrong!
David Cameron and his wife are reported to be worth £30m; yet he still claimed the full allowance for second homes plus £680 for pruning his wisteria. That's worse than Speaker martin.

A Plague on all their houses!

- Alan Hill, Oxford UK

A very sad day for British politics,will Gordon Brown now make the next most honourable statement and announce a General election in JUNE?
As for John Prescott and his vial language,he should resign together with his foul temper,he is worse than Mr Martin by far. We do not want British politicians to be tainted any further.

- Robert White, Uckfield

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT DOUBLE STANDARDS IS COMMON PRACTICE IF ONE SERVES AS A MP. MY INSTINCTS TELL ME THAT THE RECENT DISCLOSURES RELATING TO EXPENSES IS THE MERE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. THE RANK AND FILE WHO ELECT AND PAY FOR A MPS SALARY SHOULD HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF JUSTICE NOT ONLY BEEN DONE, BUT SEEN TO BE DONE REGARDLESS OF PARTY OR POSITION, AND PROSECUTION BY LAW SHOULD FOLLOW WHERE THE CLAIMS WERE CLEARLY FRAUDULENT AND SEEN TO BE CREAMING IT OFF FOR PERSONAL GAIN. PERHAPS THE MEDIA MAY CONSIDER PRINTING THOSE RULES FOR EXPENSES THAT SO MANY SEEM TO FLOUT WITH SUCH EASE FOR YEARS AND HAVE GROWN RICH ON OUR TAXES. PERHAPS TWELVE MONTHS IN PRISON WILL DETER FUTURE CLAIMANTS FROM FIDDLING .WITH HARD LABOUR OFCOURSE

- Ralph Bantoft, hartlepool UK,

Whether right or wrong, public perception of MPs is at its' lowest ebb - certainly since I can remember. In order to get a fresh start I would advocate -
1. A General Election in September
2. In the meantime - an immediately MPs expenses for the last ten years should be published. This would give time for the electorate to digest any new revelations and for MPs / PPCs to be deselected where necessary with adequate time for the new candidate(s) to present themselves.
3. Clear wage levels with total transparency for all MPs to be in place.

At the moment it would appear politicians of all sides are playing the blame game - so the good MPs are being tarnished by the bad.

- Coys Switz, switzerland

Excellent and good riddance! Now, let's have a general election and get rid of the rest of his Britain-hating party.

- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster

I assume Douglas Hogg is waiting for the general election to resign so he can get his "resettlement grant", though as most of these MPs have at least two houses why do they need to resettle?

- Dawn, Lincoln, Lincolnshire

This is a disaster of immense proportions that will have a lasting effect on this country. This has brought to the surface what a lot of people already new. To say politians didn't know this was going on is simply another lie.

The culture has been to encourage MP's to claim all they could.

The real criminal activity here is with those who APPROVED the claims, they must be brought to publicily account it is not the rules that are wrong, this is what MP's are all hiding behind. There is nothing wrong with the rules, they are quite clear enough.

Let's get it all out in the open now, but who can we trust !

- Malcolm, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

I think it is deplorable how the vast majority of guilty MPs are using Mr Martin as a scapegoat for their wrong-doings. The problem lies not with the Speaker of the House, but with the bureaucratic leeches sitting on the benches.

- Jamie., West Yorkshire

Get rid of them all.no one in there right mind.would
believe.or trust any of them.

- Bruce, perth

Why don't the public get to vote on who the speaker of the House of Commons should be? Glad to see the back of Michael Martin - a singularly nasty piece of work. My vote would go for Boris Johnson or Betty Boothroyd - either of them would be a refreshing face after the sight of the ugly fat Glaswegian.

- Steve Whateley, Birmingham, England

An interesting commentary is that one of the criticisms of Mr Speaker is that he was incompetent. If so, why has it taken around a decade for him to be sussed out? Is competance not a necessary component of jobs these days, a question that resonates elsewhere in the civil service, even in commerce and industry? If so, then the system IS bust.

- With Smoke Coming Out Of My Ears, London NW11

Nigel, London, says `I wish the Telegraph would publish a list of those they can't find reason to criticise, so we can judge how far the rot has gone.´

Nigel, every day the Telegraph publishes photos of a bunch of politicians who are squeaky clean. If you read the DT you would know this.

- Margy, London

He was the reverse of the definitely honourable Speaker Boothroyd. While Speaker he demeaned this office and now retires with a golden handshake and an inflated pension. He should have been sacked to live like so many he was supposed to represent have to live.

- Gerry, exeter england

Typical of MP's to use the Speaker as their 'scapegoat' - its all the MP's that defrauded the public that should quit! - they are no better than Mugabe and his cronies all enjoying the 'gravey train' at our expense - no wonder our taxes are so high!

- I Gardiner, London

good bye and good riddence.
only a few weeks ago, this man stood in the commons having a go at the mp's who leaked the truth to the newspapers, when he should have had a go about these greedy mp's bleeding us dry. they should have sacked him then.

- Dave, dagenham

Thank you the Press!
Thank you the people of Great Britain!
Our combined little voices supported by the Media have provided ample proof that we carry a not insignificant weight in the pursuit of justice.
Once the clearout of the Commons is complete we should start on the Lords.
I for one can´t wait to see what emerges.....!

- Jaime, Madrid, Spain

He's just the figure head, the rest of the ship will sink soon following the results of the EU elections.

- Frank, Home Counties, England.

David Davies natural choice for everyone on all sides.

- Ray, Surrey

please stop referring to him as a 'victim' - he is far from being a victim - he has deliberately set out to hide information from the voters, he has presided over a flawed and dishonest system and failed to change it.

- Andy, london

Gordon Brown's a laugh a minute! - None of the MP's have broken the rules, they've abused them; forget the fraud squad, there'll be no prosecutions - what they have done is destroyed our confidence in the entire democratic system. His review will achieve nothing other than steer public debate away from the real issue, his incompetent mis-handling of the economy since taking office in '97.
The Lib Dems & Tories should sack their "guilty" MP's and force by-elections. It might also be a good opportunity to forget partisan politics, form a coalition and freeze ALL government capital projects and spending so they can represent us for a change and get the economy back into shape.

- Neil Hughes, London

Pity he quit rather than was kicked out. Lets see what payout and pension he has taken.

- Mike, London England

The fact that he fought so bitterly to maintain the status quo made his departure inevitable. A pity that he had to bring such discredit upon the Speakership before bowing to the inevitable. Right Honourable?

Other "Hounourable" members should perhaps consider their positions and take the hounourable course; ie apply for the Chiltern Hundreds.

The most honourable course for the Prime Minister to take would be to seek an early dissolution from the Queen thus enabling the election of a new Parliament to replace the totally discredited assembly that currently presides offer this country's affairs.

Come on Mr Brown, trust the People, becuase we most certainly do not trust a significant number of the "Honourable" members, including some of your own Administration.

- Jayceeyoukay, Leatherhead, UK

I think it would be wise to watch the stationary while he is packing his bags.

- Serox, London

W.S. Gilbert (of G&S fame) got it spot on when he wrote about parliament some 125 years ago and his words ring true today, as example:

"I always voted at my party's call
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.
I thought so little they rewarded me . . . ."

"Apolgetic statesmen of a compromising kind!"

And there's much more similar comment too!

- Bernard Lockett, Folkestone, Kent.

Does anyone here know what payoff he will get as he has resigned? Because you can bet it'll be nice and fat, but will it be reported?

- Ted, London England

at last he's going !! now it's time to send the rest of scottish raj packing . good riddance

- Neil, london

If he had proffered his bresignayion yesterday he could have had retained a degree of personal respect, but his waiting for the long knife of No 10 to come out and finding himself without support, made him look as though he put personal interest above those of the Commons and by extension the electorate.

- Jon, London

I have heard it all now. George Foulkes has stated that that furore over the speaker is a Sectarian issue, as he is a Catholic. Did anyone know he was a Catholic, let alone says that was the root of the issue?
He is clearly blind to the mood of the nation, and should also stand down for stating such utter rubbish.

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke

Mick is the victim of his own arrogance. He aspired to the trappings of a class he despised. Oblivious to advice he found it impossible to make the change from warrior to statesman. Poor Mick, and poor people he hurt along the way.

- Jan, london U.K.

Fiona, you are completely right but do you know how hard it is for us normal people to break into politics? MP's all I hope worked first as Local Councillors, prior to getting in as MP's. In my area, we are blessed with hard grafting, caring local councillors that go beyond the mile for their local residents - as it should be.

Anyway, why is Mr Martin going in a few weeks? He can't be of any further benefit to the nation, wasn't in the first place, so should go now. Salary stops as of this week and input to his pension.

The same applies to all the dishonest MP's. They are not serving this Country or its people.

Finally, all those MP's having 2nd and 3rd jobs, make a choice. MP or your other jobs. You are paid a full time salary to be an MP,have generous pension rights plus excellent annual holidays. If your other jobs pay you a better salary, go to them and leave your seats to someone who WANTS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WANTS TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION. ARE HAPPY TO LIVE OF THE SALARY PAID TO AN MP. ARE PROUD OF THEIR JOB AND ALL IT ENTAILS.

For us mere mortals on the ground, we need 2-3 jobs just to pay for our food bills, make ends meet in these hard times - even before it. Some of us live in the real world. We don't do all this work for greed but for survival purposes. How many of us would love to have £300 to go on a shopping spree around Tesco right now.

- Tm, London

Why doesn't he take his mate, Lord Foulkes, with him ?

- Doug Watt, london e14

So with the Speaker going, when will the other MPs go? I include leaders of all three political parties in this. They are pointing the finger at the Speaker, when they must have known for years that the expense system was being abused.

Their MPs carried on abusing the system, so they can't just blame the Speaker. Shame on Brown, Cameron and Clegg. Leaders? Get real - anyone in business would have quetioned claims for expenses and acted on the spot. These so-called "Leaders" must go and soon.

- Gill R, UK

Stuart Bell, a member of the Commons Commission, said: “The great bar to reform was not the Speaker — it was the members themselves.” Well, you know what to do people. If we can't gaol them, at least kick them out of office at the next election. As to Michael Martin, history will show that he was scape-goated.

- Prototypical Englishman, Wormwood Scrubs

Fantastic news. This man cannot even read!

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke

When will learn who was on the panel that approved all these expense claims.

- S. Mills, London

Sixteen years ago I spent nine months at The House of Commons as a glorified postman and photocopier while employed by a temp agency. I regret not writing a book. John Major was prime minister and the indelible impression left on me was of a place - a world - cushioned so much from the outside that people within could no longer connect with the ordinary man on the outside. The holidays, the numerous bars within Westminster, the foreign trips while 'serving' on a select committee, the sex (!), the London apartments, and yes, the pay topped up by expenses. I can assure you that many many MPs make it the House, perhaps with noble intention, but once arrived they discover it to be one of the best clubs in the world and never want to leave it. I found it to be like a public school, where even some of the kids allowed in because of financial support suddenly connect and get corrputed with money, privelege, and 'respecty'. This explains the way Labour MPs pretend not to realise they are serving themselves when claiming expenses. They change inside and this is why they can't admit even to themselves their greed and avarice. It is the reason why I stopped voting in general and local elections 16 years ago. I don't think I will ever vote again.

- R H, Lewisham, London,

Sej, Reading

Have you stopped taking your medication again?

- Jb, London

It is not an "honourable" thing to do. He has been forced (unceremoniously) from office, and I hope he feels the total shame of that. Only the second Speaker in British history to suffer such a sacking. Nor should he have anything to do with reforming the expenses system before he goes. Nor should he have an "automatic" peerage, or any peerage at all. As for his gilt (or should that be "guilt") edged pension..............? Ho hum

- Jb, London

MPs are like the Titanic; unsinkable till they meet an iceberg.

The Public are like Icebergs; they can sink any ship that crosses their paths.

Do not ever forget your people power; you are invincible, if you remain united against tyranny and corruption and fight it all the way to the bitter end.

All despots, dictators, the elite, and evil people; are only people at the end of the day; they all fall once the fight for our own survival starts.

Well done the Free Press; and well done the Free People; this is not the end though; its just the beginning of the end.

- Mickyinlondon, london

The reason "Mick" did not want to step down is because he would have to go back to Glasgow East. Where life expectancy is the lowest in the U.K with all that crime and grime.
Wake-up good folk of Glasgow East what you have is the result of 75 years of Labour paying you to be poor and vote for people like Corbels "Mick" to live the high life with £4000.00 taxi fares so the old woman can go shopping! Think my friends you've been done! Now give "Mick" and his mates the Glasgow-Kiss!

- Mike,, London

can we stop calling them honorable so-and-so, and pretending that MPs are "good people" "at heart" who want to "do the right thing" and care for the "interests of the country".

nobody except the most deluded MPs or their assistants believes it. we are not children, it's an insult to our intelligence.

maybe there are a few good MPs... no more than one in ten... "most" of them have no place representing anyone

- Swingvoter, london

Nigel, London, says `I wish the Telegraph would publish a list of those they can't find reason to criticise, so we can judge how far the rot has gone.´

I´m delighted to find that my own MP has resisted the temptation to enrich herself at our expense, and she´ll get my vote for having proved to be an honourable and trustorthy MP. In the past, my natural allegiance has been to another party, but I´ll put that aside now (it´s been betrayed anyway) and do my bit to re-elect someone I can respect and trust to represent me and my family in Parliament.

- Peter, London, UK

Like Dave Ryan of McLaren, who became the scapegoat for Liargate Michael Martin, is not to blame for the dishonesty of so many MPs. I assume the party leaders will be sacking the worse offenders and ensure criminal proceedings are taken where appropriate.

- Man U Fan, London

The diversionary tactics of the Douglas Carswell (conservative)has worked he has taken the presure off of all the dodgy MP's and laid the blame at one mans door.

- Mike M, Bedford England

Interestingly I see that some of the main 'Takers' are keeping a very low profile of late?

Smith, Blear. Where are they?

Keeping their heads down?

Shame its not in a bucket of water?

- P. C., rainham. essex.

Now it's Bean's turn to resign.

- Dee Jay, Fleet Hampshire

Brown, Clegg and Cameron should step-down. This happened on their watch, by their MPs. Can you believe the righteous indignation as each tries to outdo the other?
Step down, let the whole cleansing process begin.

- Fresh, London

It is right that he should resign. However, let's not forget that if those MPs were "Honourable" they would not have made substantial claims. It's quite hypocritical of some of them to point their finger at the Speaker when they were more than willing to greedily grab what they could.

I just think that if the conservatives ever do get in, we are likely to be swapping one morally bankrupt bunch with another. Let's not forget "Yachtgate" or how the Shadow Front bench is riddled with chums - some with two jobs. Any MP with two or three jobs is clearly pig greedy and morally lacking. After all, they are voted in to serve the country, not themselves.

It would be good to see people with passion for the country back in politics; people with dedication and conviction, and people who have fought their way through life and understand the difficulties people face in their lives. This can't happen if we have twisted little schoolboys or Machiavellian lefties squeezing out the good guys on the back bench, just so they and their mates end up representing us. That's not good enough.

We need people in politics with total passion for others and total understanding. Until that happens, I can't see that Labour, Conservative or any other party would be right to represent this country.

- Fiona, UK

EDITED by admin @ 3.49pm on May 19 2009
Religious/Racial

- James Ritchie, Oyster Bay Cove, NY

Order! Order!
Her voice rang out.
Authority! Authority,
Without a doubt.
Non Partisan! Non Partisan,
Was her command.
All will be heard! All will be heard,
She would demand.

Betty Boothroyd! Betty Boothroyd
The Speaker Giant,
Created Order,
and all were compliant.

Tall order, obviously, but that's what we were used to back then. Let's not just look at a new Speaker to replace Martin, he's just a tiny bit of the big puzzle. Perhaps we should look at the state of our Democracy.

Westminster Village needs more than a spring cleaning to get Fagan and his gang in order and give us back an honest Democratic government (I'll put the capital back in government after the clean up).

- Maria, London

There are still some extremely naive souls who think he is a scapegoat!
Not true, His corruptness and ego did for him as well as his inability to do his job properly.
He needs to go NOW not later. He should not be part of rectifying something for which he was reponsible.
Now on to the next issue. Getting rid of the ineffectual and weak Brown and his coterie of shambling undead.

- Minnie Ovens, London, UK

Of course it's a witch-hunt of an honourable man from a poor background who, when he accumulated lots of Air Miles from his taxpayer-funded travels, promptly donated them to charity rather than sharing 'em out with his family.

And you'll never have seen him lounging in the back of a hired limo going on taxpayer-funded journeys that have absolutely nothing at all to do with the performance of his duties.


Er, then again though. . .

- Terry Stanford, Maidenhead

Mud sticks, so it's important to remember that not all our MPs are corrupt. I wish the Telegraph would publish a list of those they can't find reason to criticise, so we can judge how far the rot has gone. So far, they have listed a few who claimed precisely zero, and a few dozen with the most outrageous claims, leaving over five hundred unknown either way. My own MP has made it clear that she has never claimed anything for a second home, because living half an hour from Westminster she doesn't need one. (Unlike certain other London MPs!)

The next step has to be constituency parties taking a hard look at their MP. Many MPs from all parties must be de-selected, and it's best if this isn't done in haste and panic. Only after constituency parties have had a proper chance to purge corrupt and incompetent incumbents, and select new candidates, should we have an election.

- Nigel, London

From yesterday's session it was clear that at best Martin was incompetent and at worst a self serving politician of the worst kind. If he was either honest or at least sensitive of public mood, he would have led rather than hindered transparency and reform on MPs expenses. He is not being made a scapegoat - he was guilty as charged. There are others who are equally guilty including some ministers and either they should also resign or hopefully get thrown out in the next election. Which underscores the need to have the election as soon as possible. First, the economic meltdown, which was due to wrong pollicies but at least precipated by global meltdown; now, the political meltdown, due entirely to the greed of MPs who tried their level best not to be found out. Many MPs have behaved no different to people who steal from a supermarket over time and got away because the alarm was not working and when finally caught claim that the system permitted them to do what they did earlier. Or,like people who exceed the speed limit when they know there is no camera.

- Nat, New Malden

Vince Cable for President!

- Haskey, London SE1

The Speaker's only failing was that he did not succeed in hiding from public scrutiny the continued and instutionalised abuse of the MP's expenses system by the MPs. Each MP is responsible for there own claims and abuse, but the Speaker is carrying the can for failing to hide it.

- Sej, Reading, UK

After 2 Labour speakers in succession they should select a Conservative Speaker for a change. Ann Widdecombe would be perfect as she is witty, fair, independent minded and enjoys the support of many MPs in the House.

- Clare Connell, London

I thought Gordon Brown would be a great PM, but yet again he shows his weakness and lack of leadership by not allowing an immediate vote of no confidence.

He neither listens to the nation or to his fellow MPs. Tell me, exactly who does this man listen to and represent?

- Joon, Streatham, South London

For Michael Martin to be made the scapegoat for the MPs failure in not using their ethical and honest duty for the UK public is quite deplorable. The Lib Dem Party Leader, who first publically asked for his resignation, must surely realise this will reflect badly on his party in all forthcoming elections? The UK Public does not care too much for a new House Leader; what they want is that unscrupulous are taken to account or the Police if warranted. As for bring forward an election, the Queen should consider disolving Parliament early and declaring her government holds an election now. This may be unconstitutional, but the UK public want it and need it so that credibility can be re-instated into the Houses of Parliament.

- Docholiday, UK

Go on Mick crawl away with your tail inbetween your legs, you greedy fat pig (troughs etc)

You were never up to the job in the first place, and only got where you were as they didn't want a "toff" doing the job instead.

Funny how you socialists preach about equality, and abhor rascism, but are always more than happy to dislike "toffs" it's still discrimination though isn't it.

- P Staker, London

What a mess! A mixture of G & S, Monty Python and Dad's Army which unfortunately does little credit to any of those with a role to play: MP's, Ministers, Shadow Ministers and Civil Servants. Worst of all, the performance reflects badly on an Electorate which has been willing to put up with second rate performance from all aspects of the Adminstration. Ministers who cannot lead, initiate, or implement; Chancellors who cannot count; Regulators who fail to regulate; and so ad infinitum. In the last 50 years Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and the Professions have had to organise and implement change to survive let alone prosper. Whilst it remains fasionable to sell the achievments of UK plc short, on the World stage UK still has enterprises regarded 'numero unos.' And yet here is an Administrative System stuck in the days of 'Sharpe' and 'Wellington.' It is salutary to reflect that if the information is correct the value of the bribe for the last Speaker who had to go go must be nearer a £m in todays money and arguably worth the risk and significantly more useful than a short subsidised taxi ride to Harrods. ON which note it salutary to note that if this Administration was in the retail trade ( which many would argue it is ) it woulld have no customers left!

- Ray, London

GOOD RIDDANCE! Now let's take our focus back to the other theiving till raiders. If they think that this will keep us quiet, they are sadly mistaken! Smith and Blears, just two who should be signing off their resignation letters for starters.

- Goggs, London

Taxi for Gordon Brown..

- Ged, Blackheath, London

Fully agree with Mark - Speaker going quietly and quickly will get focus on those MPs who have allegedly defrauded us in a way which, if we voters were found guilty, would result in hefty fines and/or imprisonment. We should not let MPs of any party distract us with theatrics or scapegoating sidesshows as happened during the financial crisis with Goodwin and his pension while no banker has yet been imprisoned for nearly bankrupting the country and causing job losses in the millions.

- Jim, london

The man has been an embarassment for a long time. He was never right for the job. He survived because to attack him would look like an attack on his working class roots.

- M Wilkinson, London UK

Judging by the standard of his last prepared speech to Parliament yesterday, I hope the BBC are able to provide an interpreter, or at least on screen sub-titles, so that those of us who live outside of Glasgow can understand a word he is saying. How could such an obviously semi-literate man become an MP, and even more alarming become the speaker in the House of Commons is beyond me.

- Pete, South of England

Bet he gets into the House of Lords as payment and ' bonus' of success. Banks and Governments stick together.

- Paul B, London

Good riddance. What an embarrassment to this country. I see his son is already lined up to success him in Glasgow Springburn. Take about nepotism.

- Neilo, London

Do not forget that it was principally Gorbals Mick who fought tooth-and-nail to STOP JOE PUBLIC KNOWING ABOUT MP's EXPENSES.

The apology for a Speaker has less credibility than a demented hedgehog splattered across the M25.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

NOW GET RID OF THE REST OF THE CORRUPT MP's.

- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK

Why is this thief being allowed to 'step down' where he will no doubt be keeping his fat cat pension and any payoff? Give him a 'Glaswegian handshake' and sack him now.
Whoever our next PM is please no more Scots in any power positions for as demonstrated so far they cannot manage,Banks,Building Societies,The Country,or the commons what they have been good at is fleecing us for as much as they can get away with and I fully expect to see a number of fraud squad investigations that result in convictions being made.

- Mike, London England

Lets have a honest man like Vince Cable as the new speaker

- Alex., brighton

BRING BACK BETTY, SHE WAS A DIAMOND, HARD BUT FAIR.

- C Cusano, Bedford

At least he is doing the honourable thing. Will the other dishonorable Members do likewise. I doubt it. Why should he carry the can for the rest of the wrongdoers. Let's hope the local constituencies are up to the task of removing all those who have brought their parties into disrepute. They don't need permission from party leaders; a local party members vote, following the publication of the expense receipts, should decide whether or not a sitting MP should be deselected. That would be real democracy at work.

- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain

Tony Ben would make a good leader. Where is he, come on Tony Ben, please step forward.

- Angel, London

please make sure this man does not make the Lords

- Andy, london

ONE JUST GONE AND MORE BUT SLOW

1 2 3 ...........I'M COUNTING


BUT THE'LL GO



BY: UNKUTTDIAMOND

just to say will write know more
better things to do
better things to say
so fare well to all
of you people
we will stay strong
we'll get through this together
cause we have done know wrong....
l have enjoyed all the banter....
take care

from Unkuttdiamond
who will still be out their
BYE X

- Unkuttdiamond, london

Martin looked like a fish out of water during yesterday's parliamentary session. My 92-year old grandmother has more authority than him. He could barely get the words "Order, Order" out of his puffy little mouth.

Last orders for Mick, perhaps?

- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland

Best to introduce compulsory retirement of MPs at age 60.

- Doug Watt, london e14

COME ON TONY BEN, WHERE ARE YOU, WE NEED YOU TO STEP FORWARD PLEASE! WE NEED SOMEONE WHO WE CAN TRUST, SOME ONE WHO IS HONEST AND CARES ABOUT BRITAIN AND NOT JUST THEIR OWN POCKET. WHERE IS TONY BEN? HE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO I WILL VOTE FOR TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN.

- Angel, London

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
Cheerio as I go on my way!

Let's hope the police need to speak to him at a later date.

- Ian Gilbertson, Newcastle

The speaker may have proved himself to be incompetent, and he should step down but he is not guilty of fraud and should not be made the scapegoat for the rest of the scoundrels in parliament.

The speaker should quietly step down and the focus should revert to prosecuting those guilty of fraud.

- Mark Staves, London, United Kingdom

He was never, ever a patch on Betty Boothroyd and always lacked her impartiality and moral authority.

- Roz, France

ONE GONE DOWN
SO THATS A START
NOW ALL YOU OTHERS
DO YOUR PART
DO THE SAME,
YOUR ALL CORRUPTED
YOU'VE ALL BEEN SHAMED
SO DONT POINT THE FINGER
YOUR ALL TO BLAME....

*THIS WORLD IS NOT A HAPPY WORLD*

BY: UNKUTTDIAMOND

- Unkuttdiamond, london

Without any pay off I hope.

- Serox, London

One down more to come

- Terry Chambers, London

Thats not good enough. Britain is now the laughing stock. Perhaps they need to read some of the newspapers from abroad.

- Angel, london

One useless Scottish socialist waste of oxygen and money down, lots of others to go..... still, let's not be churlish, it's a start.
Dismal, biased, class-obsessed, ignorant of his role, partisan, bullying and the most woeful speaker we've ever had.
No one will be shedding any tears, apart from Mrs Speaker who will now have to pay for her own taxis.

- Johnny, Beijing, China

He is, and always has been, an embarrassment. His role in condoning and trying to prevent publication of fraudulent claims by MPs is unforgivable. His speech to the house yesterday was lamentable. I cringed at his inability to read a short sentence eloquently. He came across as an uneducated man who is just semi-literate.

- R.F., Yorks, UK

Very Good bye

- Gary, Brentwood

Who's next ?

- Doug Watt, london e14

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