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The Speaker of the Commons, Michael Martin, has finally fallen victim to the expenses scandal, an impressive scalp for those who have campaigned for MPs to be brought to account for the wilful abuse by many of their allowances and expenses. He said today that he will step down on 21 June, after instigating reform of the system.
His decision is the right one, but he should have made the announcement with greater dignity yesterday, when he made his qualified apology for letting down the nation.
Today's announcement is simpy a recognition of the reality that he is now almost destitute of support in the Commons, including that of the Prime Minister, who had initially supported him on what appeared to be tribal and party grounds.
In truth, Speaker Martin was simply not up to a very important job.
His limitations were apparent during the police arrest of the opposition immigration spokesman, Damian Green, and became impossible to avoid once the revelations of MPs' abuses of the expemses system became clear.
He represented the old guard, having tried at length to block greater transparency. As such, he is very badly placed to lead attempts at reform.
It is customary for Speakers who resign to leave Parliament at the same time but there is no actual obligation on Mr Martin to do so.
His final service to Gordon Brown may be to sit out the remainder of this parliament on the backbenches, a humiliating position but one which would avoid the necessity of a by-election which Labour might well lose.
But MPs would be wrong to hope that the catharsis that follows Mr Martin's downfall will mean that public indignation is now satisfied.
Most voters are far less concerned with the failings of the Speaker than with the excesses of many MPs and ministers.
With Mr Martin gone, the focus shifts to the attempts by all parties to bring to book those MPs who have most egregiously abused the system. That process is far from over, and must proceed with urgency.
Questions on 7/7
Nearly four years after the London bombings, there remain serious questions about how much the police and intelligence services knew about the bombers.
Some of those questions are answered in the report today from the Intelligence and Security Committee, which suggests that although there could have been better communication between police and MI5, the police knew too little about the bombers to prevent the attacks.
The Liberal Democrats and some victims' families are arguing for an independent inquiry into the attacks. Their case should be seriously considered.
Yet today's report does make the necessary point that in order to keep suspects such as the bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer under surveillance would require the deployment of sheer numbers of agents and resources that would be unacceptable or unrealistic.
Meanwhile, the terror threat remains and the report says the figure of 2,000 terror suspects is "not scaremongering" - an alarming figure.
Police are criticised whenever arrests fail to result in prosecutions.
The worries over security failings prior to 7/7 should put those criticisms in perspective: many people will feel that it is better to make arrests than to risk letting plotters stay at large.
Gnomes and gardens
The arrival of a gnome called Borage, property of Jekka McVicar, queen bee of the herb world, has brought controversy to the Chelsea Flower Show.
Many of us are finding that gardening, a great British art form, satisfies the creative instincts in times when conspicuous consumption feels wrong.
Chelsea is not just about high-fashion show gardens or style wars over gnomes but also the perennial displays of spectacular specimens from dedicated nurserymen.
It is an adornment to the capital.
Reader views (2)
Yup! One down and many more to go yet. Maybe PaMcRuin Broone did notw ant Mr Martin on the Labour back benches reminding him a the gross failures of his own Party. So its jsut as well Mr Martin leaves in the next few weeks. Time for a full sweep out of 'Augean Stables', and call a General Eelction for early September of this year.
Another 12 months of McBroone and Pals bodgings, bletherings and incompetence is too much to bear. UK society needs some encouragment to end the Blair 'New Labour' Third Way 'One Size Fits All' experiment in political bull-droppings.
- Uncle Vanya, East Anglia Area UK, 19/05/2009 23:08
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Now the fiddling MPs please. Bet they dont, time to send in the fraud squad.
- Tom, LONDON, 19/05/2009 16:58
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