LONDON — The scandal of British members of Parliament fiddling with their expenses started almost two weeks ago as a joke, but has become more serious by the day. This afternoon, it claimed its first high-profile victim as the speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, resigned.
Standing on the speaker's platform, in front of the green leather chair from which he tries to keep order, the Labour MP from Glasgow said, "Since I first came to this House 30 years ago I have always felt that the House is at its best when it is united. In order that unity can be maintained I have decided that I will relinquish the office of Speaker on Sunday 21st June. This will allow the House to proceed to elect a new Speaker on Monday 22nd of June. That is all I have to say on this matter."
He then called on the foreign secretary, David Miliband, for the next order of business, Foreign Office question time. It was a terse way to mark an important moment in history: This was the first time in three centuries that a speaker has been forced out of the position.
Martin's end was foretold overnight after a disastrous statement to Parliament yesterday about his role in the scandal.
In the British system, the speaker of the House is chosen by a vote of all members of Parliament. It is an impartial position, free of party demands. In a place as partisan as the House of Commons, the speaker faces a difficult task. Each time a new speaker is elected, he goes through the ritual of having to be dragged to the speaker's chair. It is a position in which you're obligated to anger even your closest friends in the name of fairness.
The speaker is the chief referee of the day's debates and is also in charge of parliamentary standards. It was in this latter role that Martin became a lightning rod for public anger over the expenses scandal. He had blocked attempts by journalists under Britain's Freedom of Information laws for public disclosure of parliamentarian's expenses, taking journalists to court to prevent the information from becoming public. Once his attempt to prevent publication was rebuffed by Britain's High Court, it was only a matter of time before the more egregious expense reports became public.
As details of how parliamentarians claimed expense reimbursement — the claims included everything from $1,600 televisions for their second homes to moat cleaning at their castles to $25,000 worth of interest payments on mortgages that had been paid off — Martin seemed wholly unprepared for the storm that broke around him.
The beginning of the end for the speaker came a little over a week ago, as parliamentarians debated the burgeoning expenses scandal. In an extraordinary show of temper, Martin rebuked Labour MP Kate Hoey, telling her it was easy for her to appear on the news channels criticizing Parliament but he had to defend the institution. It was an unprecedented display of emotion, and critics said it demonstrated that Martin lacked the temperament to preside over the House of Commons in such a difficult time.
As the days went by and he seemed unable to get a grasp on what is turning into a very serious crisis for the self-styled "Mother of Parliaments," calls for Martin's resignation grew.
Yesterday he made a statement that he thought would draw a line under the criticism. Instead, he was faced down in the most dramatic way. Parliamentarians from all parties told him to go, that his time was up. In an institution whose unwritten rules and customs are sacrosanct it was a dramatic departure from the deference usually shown to the speaker — a figure who, for many parliamentarians, exists to save them from themselves.
Now Martin will go. His replacement will experience the ritual of being dragged to the chair. But it remains unclear whether the expenses scandal has claimed its last victim.
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/united-kingdom/090519/speaker-the-house-commons-resigns