Michael Martin nears the end of his reign

Speaker Michael Martin has beena disaster, I have blogged many times about his lack of impartiality, his chip on the shoulder and his free and easy ways with the taxpayers' money. I read in today's Mail that his office has been caught out lieing to the Mail on Sunday about his wife's expenses.

"Pressure on Mr Martin to step down grew following the sudden resignation yesterday of his £2,000-a-day official spokesman, respected former Whitehall mandarin Mike Granatt.

Mr Granatt quit after admitting that the Speaker's office had not told the truth about £4,000 worth of taxpayer-funded taxi rides Mr Martin's wife Mary took to go shopping.

The Speaker's office claimed she had been accompanied by an official to get food for receptions hosted by the Speaker.

In fact, the "official" was Mrs Martin's cleaner, Gloria Hawkes, a friend. And the shopping was not for receptions but for informal occasions.

After confirming The Mail on Sunday's accurate version of events yesterday afternoon, Mr Granatt, hired from the private sector by the House of Commons Commission, which is chaired by Mr Martin, vented his fury with the Speaker, apologised to this newspaper – and resigned.

And he issued a devastating statement saying he and his company refused to be associated with the lack of ethics in the Speaker's department.

"I have found it no longer possible to work as the media adviser to the House of Commons Commission, and I have informed Mr Speaker that I am stepping down immediately," he said.

"It is core to the ethical code by which I and my company operate that I tell the truth, and that I am given the truth to tell.

"However, I learned on Friday that I had been led to mislead journalists over material facts in a story concerning the Speaker's household and the use of taxis.

"I have expressed my regrets to the [Mail on Sunday] journalist who brought this to my attention, and I offer them to anyone else who was similarly misled. I want to make it clear this arose through no fault of the Speaker.

"In the statement I gave to journalists, the obvious implication was that Mrs Martin was accompanied by an administrative official.

"It was in fact the housekeeper who provides domestic support to Speaker's House.

"The statement was approved by people who knew the facts. No one brought this discrepancy to my attention.""


This would be bad enough for Speaker Martin, but the Mail has more revelations;

"this newspaper established that he and his wife have been using a secret limousine service to ferry them around in London and their home town, Glasgow – also at taxpayers' expense.

The Martins use £50,000 S-class Mercedes and Jaguar cars.

Further pressure was heaped on Mr Martin as it emerged that he claimed a second-homes allowance on his constituency house in Glasgow – even though he has no mortgage on it.

It was reported the Speaker, whose London home is his lavish grace-and-favour apartment in the Commons, has claimed more than £75,000 from the Additional Costs Allowance over the past six years.

This usually goes towards mortgages or rent, but can be used for other expenses such as maintenance."


Do read the rest of the article and then you may wonder if there is any way that Speaker Martin could stay on. Of course there is, this Labour Government have no shame and love the power and the trappings of power. I feel that we are overdue a cleaning of the Augean stables.