Well done to Nick Clegg for putting his head above the parapet on the issue of the speaker. Ok it may be a few hundred years since we lost one, but that is no excuse for allowing him to limp on. It is abundantly clear the man has lost complete contact with the real world, despite his much lauded origins. Somewhere along the way he drew up the drawbridge in his own little moated ivory tower! He is clearly part of the problem, not part of the solution - the reason probably why he doesn't see it himself and recognise that it is time for change.
Nick has called for a reformer to take the job. I think this is going to be the toughest issue for the Commons - who is a reformer who has the integrity, authority and commitment to take on the role? I would have opted for Ming, but I fear he would no longer command the authority he once did. Despite the fact that the worst possible solution would be to have another Labour speaker, I guess that is the most likely outcome. I am at a loss to think of any Tory MP who meets Nick's criteria although of course I would identify a number of our MPs (further revelations notwithstanding) who would fit the bill.
Whatever the outcome tomorrow - Michael Martin has been fatally wounded, the question is not if, but how soon - he goes. I trust he will not have spent this weekend buying ridiculously expensive bookcases for his Hansards given his pending retirement!
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