Now that all parties have finally agreed that the expenses system needs a complete overhaul there has to be a person to lead the process and that person is the Speaker of the House of Commons, current incumbent Gorbals Mick.
Unfortunately he is the one person who has prevented previous reviews of the system, last July being the most recent, and MPs see him doing the same job again this time round.
He also has a ‘bit of previous’ IIRC with his wallpaper and taxis for his wife’s shopping and his private dinner parties paid for by taxpayers.
The move to get him removed from his position is to get someone without baggage that all parties, including the minorities, can trust a) to get the job done and b) more importantly sell it to the public.
Nick Clegg did himself no favours in calling for Martin’s resignation as he is the leader of one of the three major parties and is supposed to uphold the democratic process. He should have left that to Ken(?) Baker who seems to be doing a pretty good job.
I see that Vince Cable has been mooted as a replacement for Speaker Martin should he go. He seems a very intelligent and straight person who stands no chance of getting into government unless he changes parties but possibly has the nous to do the right thing.