Another MP has bitten the dust in the imbroglio over Parliamentary expense cheating. Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin has, with great truculence, announced his resignation as Speaker & MP from Glasgow, effective 21 June.
Martin, who waves his working-class origins around like an exhibitionist at a playground, was at the forefront of the attempt to divert public attention from the actual, you know, malfeasance by waxing outraged at the alleged leak of information. This was even as leaders of all three major parties were scrambling to find phrases strong enough to express their utter shock & dismay at how much their colleagues had pilfered from the public.
If it’s true you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind’s blowing, Martin comes up clueless on all counts.
He tried again yesterday to bluster his way through parliamentary questions, but it didn’t fly.
Martin is the first Speaker to be forced out of office since 1695, when Sir John Trevor got bounced for accepting bribes to push through legislation. (If Congressmen were held to that standard we’d have to have a revolving door & a moving walkway to accommodate the turnover of Representatives.) Before Trevor, there were a few instances of Speakers being beheaded for high crimes & misdemeanors, so I guess resignation is a few steps up.
Although having to go back to Glasgow permanently might be perceived as punishment to fit the crime.
It’ll be interesting to see how this continues to play out.
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