Cameron Should Have Walked Out In Protest Against Tribal Martin

Yesterday in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Question Time, the Speaker of the House Michael Martin abused his power to prevent the Conservatives’ Leader David Cameron asking a legitimate question about the succession to both Labour leadership AND the premiership on the farcical grounds that it had nothing to do with the business of government. The Conservatives were naturally, understandable outraged at the Speaker, and their fury increased when Martin threatened to suspend the sitting after being heckled by one unidentified Tory MP, adding the dictatorial insult "and then your leader won’t be able to speak".

David Cameron’s original question was a matter for the Commons, as whoever is elected by Labour to succeed Tony Blair as its leader will also automatically become the next Prime Minister. Today’s Western Mail newspaper reported that even "Labour MPs seemed surprised that Mr Cameron had been stopped in his tracks for making an inquiry that seemed to them no worse than the normal ruderies associated with the dirty business of Prime Minister’s question time." So why did Martin abused his position?

Although Martin himself has no time for Blair and his cronies (as evidenced by his rebukes to Blair for using Prime Minister’s Question Time as a platform to attack Conservative policies instead of defending his administration’s track record), as the Labour MP for Glasgow North East, Martin is still the typical Old Labour tribal animal (Jo Salmon must be so proud of him). Martin just cannot resist the urge to attack the traditional political enemy – the Tory toffs – despite being required to be politically neutral while presiding over Commons debates. Yesterday was not the first time that Martin has clashed with the Tory leadership in his role as the Speaker as he had had prior run-ins with the former Conservative leader “Dunkers” Ian Duncan Smith during 2001 to 2003.

When Martin made his arbitrary judgement, Cameron and his colleagues should have embarrassed the Speaker by walking out of the chamber in protest. The impact of this action would not have been lost on Martin and would have the most effective rebuke against him than anything else at their disposal.