Speaker is 'very wrong' says Clegg
Open criticism of Commons Speaker Michael Martin has escalated as Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said his handling of the latest expenses crisis had been "very wrong".
Mr Martin angrily slapped down MPs, including Lib Dem Norman Baker, who challenged him on Monday as he made an emergency statement on the situation - sparking threats of a no-confidence motion in the Speaker.
Asked about the performance, Mr Clegg suggested Mr Martin should have reflected the need for Parliament to apologise to voters over the use of taxpayer-funded allowances.
"I think the Speaker got it wrong, very wrong," he said.
"It is clear Parliament as a whole owes an apology to the British public. He needs to reflect that sense of apology and the urgency for new rules that put MPs beyond any further suspicion."
Tory MP Douglas Carswell is seeking six fellow MPs to support a no-confidence motion in an attempt to oust Mr Martin.
Despite long-running disquiet about Mr Martin among backbenchers, it is notoriously difficult for MPs to oust a sitting Speaker because of the power he has in the chamber.
But Mr Carswell said on Monday night: "Events this afternoon have probably made my job a little easier. It is because of this man that we have got into this situation.
"Anyone who is capable of doing the job would have seen all of this coming and realised that in a modern democracy we need transparency. I would hope that I could find 1% of parliamentarians to support me."
Mr Martin, who has long faced criticism for fighting greater openness over MPs' expenses, was visibly infuriated when he was challenged over the decision to refer the expenses leak to the police.
