The decision of Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats to call for the departure of Speaker Michael Martin this morning on the Andrew Marr show seals his fate.
The Speaker in what will appear as an attempt to cling to office and hope that it would all blow over let it be known that he was prepared to go but not before Christmas.
However once there is a momentum in one direction it is impossible to reverse and both the Prime Minister and Conservative Leader now face a situation in which if they do not persuade the Speaker to resign or agree to a free vote of the House they will stand accused of wanting to sustain the old order for as long as possible, however good their reasons for wanting time to find an acceptable replacement. So far the Conservative leader has shown the right judgement and taken the right initiatives so that his Party is not suffering in the same way as Labour. It is difficult to see what the Prime Minister can do to re-establish his position with the country and within his own political party although as has been seen he is no quitter and a ruthless fighter prepared to bide his time.
The point has to be made as strongly as possible. The Speaker represents defence of the existing system and the existing order as well as what has gone before. He does not have the confidence of the general public and should resign. This is no longer a matter for the Members of the House of Commons alone and if they do not act they should go or made to go as well. I wrote this before reading the excellent article by Douglas Carswell MP who has launched his early day motion calling on the Speaker to stand down. The Mail is conducting one of their famous petitions in support and it will be interesting to learn how many people join in this one.
There was a good piece on one of the early morning news stations about how to interpret the waves of spins coming from the main Party leaders and others.
On behalf of the Prime Minister here are those explaining that the task is to take responsibility for putting it right for all party’s and the country in general. True but he also has to tackle the situation in his own Party. Why is Hazel Blears still in the Cabinet? Why has he not yet said is that any Member of Parliament found to have deliberately abused the system, will lose the Party Whip and not be able to stand for reselection as an official Labour Candidate at the next General Election. He knows that the list of those he had to expel is such that it would mark the end of his leadership and his government
All leaders have talked of individuals paying back sums as if this will be good enough. Paying back is only the first step. They should immediately make full public disclosure and if they are judged to have made inappropriate requests then they should come before their local Party executive to establish if they should immediately resign, if they should not stand for reselection for the next Parliament or if they should put the issue to a vote within their constituency. Otherwise I would recommend that everyone votes for any other candidate. This is time for brutal rough justice. Paying back, publishing future expense claims as they are made is not sufficient unless there is change of people as well as of system.
Another original ploy was for spokesmen, especially Ministers and Shadow Ministers to first say it was a matter for the individual to comment and not for them and thus avoid having to pass judgement on the general aspect of the matter in question.
Peter Hitchens of the Daily Mail can never be accused of not saying what he really thinks and this Sunday he directed his venom towards Conservative Leader David Cameron, comparing the approach towards expenses with that of Norman Tebbit who had called on Tory and other voters to show their disgust by voting for other parties that Labour, Conservative or Liberal Democrat at the European election. He points out that Mr Cameron and his wife are worth around £30 million and questions their need to have used any of the two homes allowance let alone charged the taxpayer £680 for having wisteria cleared from the chimney of his Oxfordshire home. Good point Mr Hitchens.
The Mail not to be outdone by the Telegraph had three good stories this morning, The first concerns the Conservative Member of Parliament Nadine Dorries who has claimed £650981 second home allowance in order to perform her Parliamentary duties but has four homes none of which are near Westminster. The money is claimed for her constituency home, a common practice and which is 100 miles from her family home in the Cotswolds. She rents out another home in the Cotswolds and has a holiday home in South Africa. She uses hotels in London when she stays over night on her duties in the House of Commons, so why does she not do this in the constituency? She is quoted as saying she was sorry if her arrangements upset her constituents but not anyone.
Already identified by the Telegraph as a Member whose expenses merits close attention, Margaret Moran is also reported to have been in dispute with the Mail because they took up her use of Commons Stationery in a private dispute with neighbours on her reported £200000 holiday home in Spain. It emerged that after denying the story back in November 2006 she instructed £400 an hour solicitors to try and sue the newspaper. When the paper sent one of her notes proving what they had reported to these lawyers the case was dropped. The lawyers had accepted the case on a no win no fee basis says the Mail but Ms Moran claimed £881.25 under her Parliamentary expenses meant for the constituency office.
The Mail has revealed that the home was originally bought with her brother for £10000 in 1996 and is part of a 15 acre plot and has a swimming pool. According to the Telegraph and Mail Ms Moran has used taxpayer’s money to renovate three homes in the UK but is now prepared to repay £22000 claimed for treating dry rot at the seaside home she shares with her partner in Southampton and which is therefore not in her constituency or within the area of the House of Commons. She is reported to have instructed new lawyers to represent her interest. This is a smart move. The original claim made for the attempt to use the Mail has been self referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner.
The Mail was informative about how the Telegraph gained the information. I can understand why the rest of the media is interested in how the Telegraph obtained the story. The suggestion is that the recent decision to employ ex soldiers to provide additional security in the House of Commons may be the original source of the material which the Mail states is a full set of all the expenses information to be released in the Summer but with some justifiable information excluded.
The Mail is focused on two individuals with one willing to talk, an American born public relations man Henry Gewanter who in the past worked for Lord Bell a key adviser to Lady Thatcher when she was Prime Minister and who confirmed that he was acting for the second man said to be the key individual in chain, a former SAS soldier who at present is involved with providing security for shipping firms against pirates, Mr Gewanter stated he had earned nothing from his role and that the object of those involved was to bring out the truth where every effort was being made to suppress.
Mr Wick aged 60 is one of those mysterious but influential figures who comes across as an unofficial and well connected James Bond. One person willing to comment about My Wick to the Mail was Sir Brian Goswell a city figure in construction and property who was close to Margaret Thatcher and helped fund the Michael Portillo Commons office. Among those involved him as consultants are a former police detective chief inspector and the ex investigator of the UN Security Council’s Taliban and Al Qaeda monitoring group. He is also known to have employed who former Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police as Directors of previous businesses. WOW.
Final word goes for Mr McShane who claims £20000, a year £125000 over the past years since entering parliament for office expenses excluding staffing for a converted single garage which has carpet and telephones, computers, filing cabinets but has wooden peeling doors. look at calls. One Labour MP is said to have commented privately to the paper that he has to pay £6000 to rent his office. Mr McShane also claimed £135000 second home allowance. The MP said that his staff used the whole house. He has defended the allegations saying it was what many other Members of Parliament did. So be it. Let them all be kicked out I say.
The Speaker in what will appear as an attempt to cling to office and hope that it would all blow over let it be known that he was prepared to go but not before Christmas.
However once there is a momentum in one direction it is impossible to reverse and both the Prime Minister and Conservative Leader now face a situation in which if they do not persuade the Speaker to resign or agree to a free vote of the House they will stand accused of wanting to sustain the old order for as long as possible, however good their reasons for wanting time to find an acceptable replacement. So far the Conservative leader has shown the right judgement and taken the right initiatives so that his Party is not suffering in the same way as Labour. It is difficult to see what the Prime Minister can do to re-establish his position with the country and within his own political party although as has been seen he is no quitter and a ruthless fighter prepared to bide his time.
The point has to be made as strongly as possible. The Speaker represents defence of the existing system and the existing order as well as what has gone before. He does not have the confidence of the general public and should resign. This is no longer a matter for the Members of the House of Commons alone and if they do not act they should go or made to go as well. I wrote this before reading the excellent article by Douglas Carswell MP who has launched his early day motion calling on the Speaker to stand down. The Mail is conducting one of their famous petitions in support and it will be interesting to learn how many people join in this one.
There was a good piece on one of the early morning news stations about how to interpret the waves of spins coming from the main Party leaders and others.
On behalf of the Prime Minister here are those explaining that the task is to take responsibility for putting it right for all party’s and the country in general. True but he also has to tackle the situation in his own Party. Why is Hazel Blears still in the Cabinet? Why has he not yet said is that any Member of Parliament found to have deliberately abused the system, will lose the Party Whip and not be able to stand for reselection as an official Labour Candidate at the next General Election. He knows that the list of those he had to expel is such that it would mark the end of his leadership and his government
All leaders have talked of individuals paying back sums as if this will be good enough. Paying back is only the first step. They should immediately make full public disclosure and if they are judged to have made inappropriate requests then they should come before their local Party executive to establish if they should immediately resign, if they should not stand for reselection for the next Parliament or if they should put the issue to a vote within their constituency. Otherwise I would recommend that everyone votes for any other candidate. This is time for brutal rough justice. Paying back, publishing future expense claims as they are made is not sufficient unless there is change of people as well as of system.
Another original ploy was for spokesmen, especially Ministers and Shadow Ministers to first say it was a matter for the individual to comment and not for them and thus avoid having to pass judgement on the general aspect of the matter in question.
Peter Hitchens of the Daily Mail can never be accused of not saying what he really thinks and this Sunday he directed his venom towards Conservative Leader David Cameron, comparing the approach towards expenses with that of Norman Tebbit who had called on Tory and other voters to show their disgust by voting for other parties that Labour, Conservative or Liberal Democrat at the European election. He points out that Mr Cameron and his wife are worth around £30 million and questions their need to have used any of the two homes allowance let alone charged the taxpayer £680 for having wisteria cleared from the chimney of his Oxfordshire home. Good point Mr Hitchens.
The Mail not to be outdone by the Telegraph had three good stories this morning, The first concerns the Conservative Member of Parliament Nadine Dorries who has claimed £650981 second home allowance in order to perform her Parliamentary duties but has four homes none of which are near Westminster. The money is claimed for her constituency home, a common practice and which is 100 miles from her family home in the Cotswolds. She rents out another home in the Cotswolds and has a holiday home in South Africa. She uses hotels in London when she stays over night on her duties in the House of Commons, so why does she not do this in the constituency? She is quoted as saying she was sorry if her arrangements upset her constituents but not anyone.
Already identified by the Telegraph as a Member whose expenses merits close attention, Margaret Moran is also reported to have been in dispute with the Mail because they took up her use of Commons Stationery in a private dispute with neighbours on her reported £200000 holiday home in Spain. It emerged that after denying the story back in November 2006 she instructed £400 an hour solicitors to try and sue the newspaper. When the paper sent one of her notes proving what they had reported to these lawyers the case was dropped. The lawyers had accepted the case on a no win no fee basis says the Mail but Ms Moran claimed £881.25 under her Parliamentary expenses meant for the constituency office.
The Mail has revealed that the home was originally bought with her brother for £10000 in 1996 and is part of a 15 acre plot and has a swimming pool. According to the Telegraph and Mail Ms Moran has used taxpayer’s money to renovate three homes in the UK but is now prepared to repay £22000 claimed for treating dry rot at the seaside home she shares with her partner in Southampton and which is therefore not in her constituency or within the area of the House of Commons. She is reported to have instructed new lawyers to represent her interest. This is a smart move. The original claim made for the attempt to use the Mail has been self referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner.
The Mail was informative about how the Telegraph gained the information. I can understand why the rest of the media is interested in how the Telegraph obtained the story. The suggestion is that the recent decision to employ ex soldiers to provide additional security in the House of Commons may be the original source of the material which the Mail states is a full set of all the expenses information to be released in the Summer but with some justifiable information excluded.
The Mail is focused on two individuals with one willing to talk, an American born public relations man Henry Gewanter who in the past worked for Lord Bell a key adviser to Lady Thatcher when she was Prime Minister and who confirmed that he was acting for the second man said to be the key individual in chain, a former SAS soldier who at present is involved with providing security for shipping firms against pirates, Mr Gewanter stated he had earned nothing from his role and that the object of those involved was to bring out the truth where every effort was being made to suppress.
Mr Wick aged 60 is one of those mysterious but influential figures who comes across as an unofficial and well connected James Bond. One person willing to comment about My Wick to the Mail was Sir Brian Goswell a city figure in construction and property who was close to Margaret Thatcher and helped fund the Michael Portillo Commons office. Among those involved him as consultants are a former police detective chief inspector and the ex investigator of the UN Security Council’s Taliban and Al Qaeda monitoring group. He is also known to have employed who former Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police as Directors of previous businesses. WOW.
Final word goes for Mr McShane who claims £20000, a year £125000 over the past years since entering parliament for office expenses excluding staffing for a converted single garage which has carpet and telephones, computers, filing cabinets but has wooden peeling doors. look at calls. One Labour MP is said to have commented privately to the paper that he has to pay £6000 to rent his office. Mr McShane also claimed £135000 second home allowance. The MP said that his staff used the whole house. He has defended the allegations saying it was what many other Members of Parliament did. So be it. Let them all be kicked out I say.
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