Speaker does not deserve to be granted seat in Lords, say peers

Michael Martin should be denied a peerage, two members of the Lords said today. Former Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson led calls for the Speaker not to be elevated to the Upper Chamber.

Mr Martin yesterday became the first Speaker to be hounded out of office for more than 300 years after losing the confidence of scores of MPs across all the main parties.

"He has let the House of Commons down. He has let parliamentary democracy down and it is good that he has gone," said Lord Lawson. "I very much hope that he will not be offered the customary peerage because I am afraid to say he clearly does not deserve it."

Mr Martin was forced out following a series of blunders including his role in the MPs' expenses scandal, when he fought to keep details of claims secret, and his handling of the police raid on the Commons office of shadow immigration minister Damian Green.

With Parliament reeling from the rows, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott added: "No one should pick up a peerage with his P45 — least of all Mr Martin, who has so damaged our democracy."

This view will echo strongly in the City after Gordon Brown attacked the "reward for failure" culture of disgraced bankers, including Sir Fred Goodwin who retired early with a pension of more than £700,000 a year. By tradition, former Speakers are elevated to the Lords.

Mr Brown will be desperate not to further humiliate Mr Martin after he became the first Speaker to be ousted since Sir John Trevor was expelled from Parliament in March 1695 for accepting a 1,000 guineas bribe from the Corporation of London.

However, he could delay giving him a peerage until the storm over his stewardship of the Commons dies down. Mr Martin, aged 63, is due to retire as Speaker with a pension pot worth about £1.5 million, which would give him a pension estimated to be at least £65,000 a year. As a peer, he would also be able to claim £174 for every night he spends in London on Lords' business.

Today, Mr Martin's predecessor Baroness Boothroyd broke her silence to launch an astonishing attack on the Speaker and the Government, adding that MPs must bear "collective guilt" for the Commons' failures.

"Recent disclosures have traumatised Parliament and shaken the confidence of everyone who regards the Commons as the chief forum of the nation," she said.

"Speaker Martin has taken the initial brunt of the criticisms levelled against the Commons for its failure to observe the high standards of ethical conduct expected of it."

She praised him for apologising to the country for the expenses scandal but then launched further searing criticism. Highlighting how she had warned of public cynicism in Parliament when she stood down in 2000, she said: "Little has changed and recent events have made matters worse. The Commons must bear a collective guilt in this."

With Mr Martin due to step down as Speaker on 21 June and then quit as an MP, senior backbenchers are jockeying for position to succeed him. Former Labour minister Chris Mullin refused to rule himself out and Tory MP John Bercow is already winning early support, particularly from Labour MPs.

Other possible candidates include Sir George Young, chairman of the standards and privileges committee, Labour MP Frank Field, Liberal Democrat Sir Alan Beith, and deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst.

Tony Wright, chairman of the public administration committee, and former shadow home secretary David Davis have ruled themselves out, but speculation is rife that Lib-Dem deputy leader Vince Cable could come under pressure to put his name forward to lead the reforms of the Commons.

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