Time to go, Mr Speaker

11.41.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th May 2009

In a statement today, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has said he will join calls for the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin MP, to stand down.

'There has been a lot of disquiet over the Speaker's performance in recent years. This was true even before the current expenses scandal. One example was his response to the Damian Green affair when he publicly blamed his Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay for admitting the Police to the MP's office without a warrant and failed to accept the responsibility that was properly his own.

But his response to the expenses scandal has been the last straw:

• He has obstructed reform, fighting the Freedom of Information requests that have now been proved necessary without any shadow of doubt.

• Last week, he ruled out key motions from Conservative MP Sir George Young that would have enabled MPs simply to vote to accept the findings of the independent Kelly inquiry into expenses and take the issue out of our own hands. This is now the only publicly acceptable course left.

• This week, he interrupted and criticised Labour MP Kate Hoey and Liberal Democrat Norman Baker who tried to question the handling of the expenses scandal, acting in a manner inappropriate to his position as Speaker.

I'm sure many will feel that Mr Speaker Martin has done good service to the House of Commons. He should now be content with that and take the earliest opportunity to stand down. I will be adding my name to an Early Day Motion to that effect as soon as it is tabled.'