Unprecedented scenes of anger, disgust, disgrace and disbelief left the cherished democracy of parliament in tatters, as the shamed speaker refused point blank to give in to calls for a no-confidence vote on his future and quit. Dave's having none of it - the Tory leader is launching a petition calling for a snap general election.
Calls from backbenchers urging speaker Martin to resign fell on deaf and greedy ears - as the speaker showed his true New Labour colours and sucked up to his cronies in a discredited government up to its neck in the shame of MPs' scandalous expenses.
With an arrogance that beggar's belief, he dismissed Tory MP Douglas Carswell's motion, nit-picking on it as an "early day" one, rather than a "substantive" one, leading to a mother of all rows in the mother of all parliaments and heckles and utter chaos in Brown's Big Brother house.
Decent MPs didn't care what kind of motion it was. That early day motion is now too late in the day to save the national disgrace of 'Gorbals Mick'. But the shambles left honest MPs echoing the words of Cromwell: In the name of God, go!
Martin is a liability for both the government and the commons. Any flagging authority he had left disappeared in a puff of arrogance leaving him incapable of presiding over any meaningful reform of the MPs' expenses.
The disgraced commons ringmaster and gatekeeper of the MPs expenses fiddle was clinging to his job like a limpet today as moves to bring him to parliamentary justice and oust him gained support.
Now he cannot survive whatever games are played to keep him in post and stave off a by-election and the rout of an early general election.
Martin's stumbling cunning plan revealed to the House? A meeting between party leaders. Isn't that something they sort out among themselves? In fact haven't they already had a stab at it?
Only his cronies in the New Labour ruling party, using the spinning smokescreen of a scapegoat, rallied round to support one of their kind who's brought shame and a plague on both their houses.
'Gorbals Mick' was already in the thick of it well before he came under fire today. But the national disgrace of a speaker was thrust back in the thick of the scam to use MPs expenses to feather their own nests, exposed by the Sunday Times and today's Telegraph.
If the dead speaker walking won't go voluntarily, there's a whole bunch of people lining up to give him a helping hand. That pesky motion won't go away. Tomorrow is just another day. Reform of parliament is utterly impossible while this arrogant and greedy man remains in office.
As usual it is Cameron who is taking the leadership bull by the horns. He's getting to grips with any of his shamed lot and is launching a petition calling for an immediate general election:
“From tomorrow I want Conservative candidates and activists right across the country to start collecting signatures for a petition demanding that Gordon Brown calls a General Election.
“And I want as many people as possible – whether you support Labour, or the LibDems, or no party – to join in ... Through the power of our collective pressure, we can force Gordon Brown to act."
And in a sideway swipe at his own greedy bunch of chancers, Cameron told local parties they should deselect Tory MPs they regarded as unsuitable.
Way to go, Dave. Trust in parliament and democracy has to be restored. If bunkered, blinked Brown won't do it, the country now knows there's a man who can.
And the discredited bunch of New Labour chancers, spivs and downright crooks have only themselves to blame.
Today was another chance for Brown to show true leadership and restore public trust. Instead he was making a fool of himself, ducking reporters but happy to do the rounds of the celebrity football circuit.
The ball's now in Brown's court. He can put aside his tribal loyalty to Martin and let him go or go down with him. The prime minister pulls the strings behind his long-time pal Martin and can call the shots on commons no-confidence votes. Today they both blew it.
No comments:
Post a Comment