Michael Martin finally leaves the Speaker's office
Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, will go down in history as only the second Speaker ever to be dismissed from the house in over 300 years. While many believe he is being made a scapegoat for the MP's expenses scandal there is no doubt that under his control the House of Commons has become a more secretive and more reclusive institution with significant taxpayer funds used to try and block such actions as the requests for expenses information under the Freedom of Information Bill.
In all honesty the Speaker's future has been in doubt for many months but only yesterday we saw the almost unheard of situation whereby Michael Martin was being criticised to his face in the House of Commons. A fierce backlash from the UK public also added to the situation and effectively forced Gordon Brown and his Labour ministers to ask Mr Martin to consider his position. It is hoped that by the time the speaker leaves, next month, a new expenses system should be under discussion and the house can move forward from these disastrous times. However, there are many who believe that Michael Martin, although he may well have had its faults, has become something of a political scapegoat for MPs and politicians in general.
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