Defenders of Michael Martin

It hasn't been possible to turn on the BBC news without a coterie of friends of Speaker Martin being paraded to defend him and his conduct. All the defence I heard was about him personally, not once did anyone say he has been an excellent speaker and friend of the backbencher. The most memorable of the defences seem to have been:

He was picked on because he was from the Gorbals and was a sheet metal worker.

When his critics pointed out that Betty Boothroyd had a humble start to life and was a dancing girl it was dismissed because she was a woman and couldn't be victimised. Well, IMHO she was a great speaker because she controlled the house with fairness, humour and diplomacy. She went out of her was to support backbenchers where as Speaker Martin seems to be a sock puppet for the Labour front bench.

Then there is George Thomas who became Lord Tonypandy. His was hardly a silver-spoon-in-the-mouth start to life:

The son of a miner who died young, Thomas grew up at Trealaw in the Rhondda and was the pride of mother Emma Jane, his beloved "mam" to whom he was devoted.

he was, probably better than Betty, but only shading it.

When it comes to those expenses, especially his wife's taxi rides, he is defended because he hasn't done anything wrong in the strict sense of the term as far as parliamentary rules are concerned. That the rules are open to such abuse is his fault in the first place as he controls the committees that set them. This is no defence, the man has the morals of the worst kind of chav if he can't see what he was doing is orally wrong.

So, lets get this straight, Speaker Michael's is unpopular because he is crap at the job and deserves the criticism we hear about

We, the poor down trodden electorate, need a good speaker. The position is the last line of defence against the abuse of parliament and its procedures by the executive. Not one person has defended him for the way he has carried out that role which is why he should go and go now.

If he hangs around too long he could be controlling a hung parliament - now that is a scary thought