Or because he is working class, it is because he isn't good enough.
The Speaker of the House of Commons has proven to be poor at handling Commons debates. He has shown poor judgement in his use of expenses and public funds and now has failed in the most fundamental of his duties. The more that we hear about the entering and searching of Damian Green's office the worse the Speaker's position is.
Many in the Labour party are trying to paint this as a class based attack on him, it isn't. Betty Boothroyd was from a working class background and was respected, loved even, on all sides of the house. I have little doubt that Speaker Martin is a good man, but he is not up to the job and the longer he stays in post the worse it will become.
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I agree with this post on every point. I too was very taken with Betty B, was pleased on her accession from Deputy Speaker to full Speaker some years ago, and it was also a delight to see her at the State Opening yesterday.
I have often found in life that it is often the case that the incompetent (and, for that matter, the dodgy) who tend to find an angle to let them off the hook.
Whether it's class, ethnic origin, gender of whatever, they (and their often equally-useless supporting buddies) will play that card in order to preserve their own personal situation. Thus we end up with lower-calibre people hanging around for years, when they should have gone a long time earlier.
I totally agree with you, James. Speaker Martin is very poor and his performance is made to look even worse by the fact that he was preceeded by such an outstanding speaker.
The Labour Party's attempts to paint this as a class based attack is quite pathetic, but just what we expect from them.
I find your comment that "The more we hear about the entering and searching of Damian Green's office the worse the Speaker's position is" quite amusing though - and very ironic. Surely you should be using this phrase when describing Boris Johnson's actions?
The astonishing revelation that Boris has been in contact with fellow Conservative Damian Green following his arrest over Home Office leaks shows a shocking lapse in judgement and it is utterly unbelievable that a politician should abuse his position in this way.
The Mayor received information as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, then went to his political ally and old friend, who is now under criminal investigation. This is not appropriate behaviour for a chair of the Police Authority or the London Mayor.
To top it all, Boris then compounded his gaffe by giving his view that Damian Green would not be charged and the case would not reach the Courts. Well of course it won't with Boris manipulating the investigation behind the scenes!
Let us not forget that the Mayor installed himself as chair of the MPA in October to give him personal control over the Metropolitan Police and now he is seeking to influence an investigation. He has previously admitted to having a "furious row" with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police when informed of the plans to arrest Mr Green, no doubt trying to exert undue influence over the investigation.
The Conservatives have been throwing around the phrase "Police State" throughout this investigation, insinuating that the police are at the government's beckon call. If Britain were indeed a Police State then politicians would not be subject to criminal law and arrest, just like in a communist state. However, they are!
I am not sure why every one who caused this fiasco to happen is raising up their hands and covering their eyes and ears. The typical response is "I did not hear and see anything". Home Secretary says "she did not know", Prime Minister feigns ignorance, speaker says he did not "personally authorise" the search without taking responsibility for the consent provided by Sarjent at Arms who in turn end up blaming police. And police say that they had written consent. What is going on!
And to ensure that truth can be buried by such gobble gosh, they are launching another set of attack on people who are asking valid question - why such heavy handed action and why the murder of democracy?
I agree with the whole post except this weird idea that Boothroyd was any good. She was mediocre and people who think more highly of her tend to be doing the first-woman-doing-it or the first-not-wearing-the proper-clothes thing or just contrasting her to the pitiful excuse for a placeman who is warming that great chair at the moment.
She was actually pretty duff, to be honest.
It'll be interesting if ZaNuLabour continue to defy Parliamentary tradition by installing another one of their never-will-be's as Speaker when Gorbals goes rather than rotating it between the two parties.
In which case, why was he appointed, by whom and will his seat remain as empty as Sir Ian Blair's if he's sacked ??
Criticism of his alleged ineptitude as 'referee' has been a long time in the making. There's been an inordinate amount of 'reshuffling' since Mandleson's/Campbell's return.
Isn't it about time that the speaker didn't come for the two Punch and Judy parties?
The only reason it has to bounce between the parties is because they know they are biased.
I think it is time to put Menzies Campbell or Charles Kennedy (when he was sober he was quite good) in the speaker's chair. And there are plenty of backbenchers in the Lib Dems who could do a better job than the last couple of speakers.
Did Boris really tip off the Conservative party after hearing the news from his puppet in charge of the Met? If this is the case I believe it is Boris who should resign. And I know you think I would say that, but really we cannot allow politicians to leak information about police operations to suspects.
The Times reports:
"A senior Met source said that they were “dismayed” and “felt let down” by what Mr Johnson had said.
“Not only has he contacted a suspect, but he has given an opinion on an investigation without being aware of all the evidence. That completely undermines the officers involved,” the source said. "
In this whole disgraceful episode I believe Boris's actions are the worst I have yet read about. Everybody else has cooperated with a police investigation, including the Sarjeant at Arms and the Speaker. At yet James takes this opportunity to attack the Speaker.
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