The case against 'Gorbals Mick'

For an urchin reared in a grimy Glaswegian tenement block, the Speaker of the House of Commons has shown himself to be exceptionally thinskinned. Far from being a gritty street fighter, Michael Martin has revealed himself a timid wee pudding, as illequipped to cope with the circus of public life as he is to deal with the demands of his august parliamentary office.

Speaker Martin accuses his press critics of "snobbery". They are, he says, driven by nothing more than a distaste for his Rab C Nesbitt accent.

Well, as accents go, it is certainly a humdinger. But that is nothing compared to his intellectual shortcomings, his mishandling of debates and his singular lack of impartiality.

"Gorbals Mick" (my nickname for the old billygoat seems to have stuck) has been a disaster in the Speakership. He inherited a Chair which, thanks to the showmanship of his predecessor Betty Boothroyd, had seldom known such a high public regard. Now it has a profile for all the wrong reasons: notoriety and ridicule.

His supervision of the Chamber's daily departmental questions is woefully lax. MPs drone away for too long and ministers return the service with interest. He has also failed to force ministers to make important announcements to the Commons before they release them to the media.

Downing Street, to be blunt, thinks Speaker Martin is a joke. Mr Martin besmirched the traditional neutrality of the Chair by stating in public his support for Government policy. He has also seemed, frequently, to indulge his old mates on the Labour benches, while being quick to discipline errant Conservatives.

The younger Tories such as John Bercow and Julie Kirkbride feel seriously hard done by. And one of the Opposition's older figures, John Butterfill, was unceremoniously ejected from the Chamber for daring to murmur some very subtle dissent in Mr Martin's ear.

Soon after his election Mr Martin took the sensible decision to drop some of the flummery of the Speakership. He did away with the wig and pantaloons. The "snobbish" press rather approved.

Yet this is the same Speaker who recently upbraided reporters for not standing smartly to attention when he passes them on his daily procession.

Mr Martin has continued to mix socially with Labour MPs. Speakers normally withdraw from the tearoom hurly-burly of the Commons, realising that they need to reduce their social contact in order to avoid the danger of developing favourites. His whole approach has lacked the dignity and high seriousness it needs.

His admirably humble roots are not at issue. His predecessors George Thomas and Betty Boothroyd were every bit as working class. The real problem is that Speaker Martin is hopeless.