Order, Order…

Michael Martin, Glasgow North East MP and the Commons Speaker, has today announced his decision to step down from both these positions, forcing a by-election in his constituency.

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Martin failed to pander to the hungry audience any further then he needed, refusing to comment on the matter and simply stating his intention to stand down on 21 June.

Martin has served as speaker in the House of Commons since 2000, and recently has been dogged with the surfacing of the gross misappropriation of public money for MP’s expenses, one of the biggest public debacles in recent times.

Martin himself caught with his hands in the jar repeatedly in his 9 year tenure, be it challenged on the use of over £20,000 challenging negative press coverage, and only this month his own expenses claims for a chauffeur to take him to his beloved Celtic was brought to the fore by The Daily Telegraph.

His suppression of Minister’s spending this time around echoes his previous attempts to block queries under the Freedom of Information Act, pertaining to MP’s travel expenses worth over £5 Million.

Martin was accused of allowing the police to search the offices of Damian Green without a search warrant, which subsequently resulted in his arrest for leaking details of the employment of illegal immigrants in the House of Commons, and the granting of 5,000 licences for illegal workers.