In defence of a fallen Speaker

By Societarian

As I was waiting for the Met this morning I overheard an elderly couple talking. The woman who was doing a crossword turned to the man and asked; “Do you know what’s French for scapegoat” to which her partner replied, “I know what it is in Scottish…”, before pausing for a moment to steady himself for a broad Scottish accent and continuing, “…Mike’el Mar’-in”. It made me chuckle to myself and think about the actions of certain MPs over the last few days directing their anger towards the Speaker. As we saw him resign this afternoon never has the old quip “A good scapegoat is just as good as a good solution” played so true.

In the days leading up to the Speaker’s resignation today we have seen everyone from the Acting Director of Progress, to Mr Trouser Press MP, Lib Dem Chris Huhne, and Tories like Douglas Carswell scream for the head of Mik’el Mar’in. Maybe not that surprising as their politics is wafer thin apart but then so is that of their target: Michael Martin (as he is known in English), a once right winger in the Labour party is no political bed fellow of Societarian’s but something about this recent abuse he has been getting somewhat stinks.

Now I don’t want to say Michael Martin was the best speaker the House of Commons has had but then I don’t want to say he was the worst. I don’t feel anyone would have done a better job or could right now. But let’s look at the critics as well as the defendant. So far every media outlet has come out to criticise him and I don’t know of one yet to defend him! (Someone leave a link below if there is). The only suggestion for this biased point of view is either bad journalism or bad mindedness. The media clearly don’t like him and he makes no qualms about his detest for them, but I can imagine that trying to prosecute newspaper editors won’t win you friends with any of them.

One of the main bits of information that they have all fallen over themselves to identify about him is his past. The fact that he used to be a flat sheet metal worker and a trade union shop steward as though this is in effect the very reason why he is not up to the job! Not one has bothered to find out why he would make the statements he has made to the House.

In fact the criticism that he was a trade union shop steward seems strange as that is in effect what he is. One of the many roles of the Speaker of the HoC is that he is there to defend MPs as well as to bring them to bare. The situation was that a national media organisation like the Telegraph has purchased documents with the personal banking details of MPs and their staff. The latter, no matter how much you like it, are devoid of this situation and they don’t deserve the possibility of having their financial details end up on the desk of some cyberspace fraudster. The Speaker, whether he likes it or not, has a duty to protect those who work within the Palace of Westminster similar to the job of a shop steward who has to represent those of his union. The Speaker’s primary duty is to represent the House of Commons and if a breach of security has occurred it is his duty to deal with it. I accept he chaired a committee that presides over the Fees Office that created this mess. But even if you don’t believe what Tony Benn said this morning, you have to recognise that fundamentally it is the MPs themselves who have final say over how they are paid.

But let me make it clear I am very glad to the fine journalistic work that the Telegraph has done (I never thought I would ever type that in my life). But the crux of the matter is that although this information was in the public interest, it was not however cleared as public information until July. The Speaker ccould not have ignores a clear breach of Parliamentary security – let’s not forget that most people accused him of not backing Damien Green enough even though it was the Sergeant at Arms who put her hands up and admitted she had not passed on all the information, such as the lack of a warrant.

As for the political critics I ask them whose interests are they really serving by focusing their ire towards the Speaker. The part-time political correspondent for Sky and the Telegraph, Kate Hoey the MP for Vauxhall, who is about as popular amongst her fellow MPs as the editor of the Telegraph right now, is not unknown for her ability at muck raking to up her own profile.

For the Tories this would be greeted with glee as a political blow to Labour and many doubt that Labour would have the audacity to elect another Labour speaker or want the possibility of a Glasgow North by-election. As for the Lib Dems it would be the chance for a Lib Dem figure to step up to a position of authority. As the frontrunning candidates to be Speaker are now Sir Menzies Campbell and Sir Alan Beith. As for their claims of the Speaker not being the “right man”. Is the best judge of who is the “right man” someone who spends over his allowed allowance on his second home? Or the latter suggest that someone who spends £10,000 on an interior designer be the “right man”? So I ask Qui bono? Certainly not anyone who wants a resolution to this matter as any new Speaker will be simply tarred with this affair.

I know that this article is going to be as popular on here as a hay-fever sufferer wearing a sombrero in a crowded lift at the moment. But although we have a right to be angry, we have to remember that we also have a responsibility to direct that anger at the right places. Let’s not let political machinations make us believe that this is the work of one man. I wonder what an old shop steward turn MP like Ernie Bevin would have thought of this witch-hunt that is taking place. As he once said “Unintelligent people always look for a Scapegoat”. Therefore we must try to be intelligent and look for a solution to this dire situation.

So let the Speaker’s resignation this afternoon be the start of the reform and not the end of the matter!