MICHAEL MARTIN, SWEPT AWAY BY A TIDAL WAVE OF CORRUPTION!

According to one commentator, the rumblings in the belly of the earth of British politics finally erupted and out spewed the speaker of the parliament! The first in about three (300) hundred years of uninterrupted political bliss of parliamentary speaker-ship in Britain? What a political earthquake, indeed?

The speaker of Britain's lower house, Michael Martin, 63, agreed to step down after lawmakers from all the major political parties demanded his resignation over an expenses' scandal ranging from claims for manure to pornographic films; that has tarnished the reputation of parliament. Parliament has been thus damaged by a series of reports in newspapers based on leaked information on how members milked the expenses system to supplement an annual salary of around 65,000 pounds ($100,700)?

Martin, a former metalworker, who rose through the ranks to become the "unwilling" speaker who was literally dragged to the chair of the speaker, faced intense pressure to resign from lawmakers who saw him now as an obstacle to reform; and facing a no-confidence motion already signed by 23 members of parliament (MPs) from all major parties, he threw in the towel. In his terse statement to the parliament, announcing his resignation, Martin said "In order that unity can be maintained, I have decided that I will relinquish the office of speaker on Sunday, June 21, 2009"! The last speaker in recorded history of Britain to be forced out from the post was John Trevor, who lost the confidence of the house in 1695 for taking a bribe. Prior to him, other previous speakers had their heads cut-off, for infra-digs affecting the esteem of the parliament. The Parliament will elect a new speaker, who could come from any of the major parties, by secret ballot on June 22, 2009; a day after Martin goes. His Glasgow North East constituency will conduct a bye election to fill his vacating seat.

The scandal has since forced an immediate change of policies in Parliament including imposition of stricter curbs on expenses, until an in-depth review and over-haul of the system is completed later this year? Henceforth, lawmakers would only be able to claim rent, mortgage interest and utility bills for their second homes in future, preventing them charging the taxpayer for items such as cleaning swimming pools or repairing tennis courts? The past four years of claims will be reviewed. Parliamentary officials will refuse any future claim they think is unreasonable and publish approved payments online. Icheoku says, what a necessary first active steps being taken to avoid a repeat occurrence, unlike the rogue-infested Nigerian house of representatives where a 2.6 billion Naira car-purchase scandal failed to even ruffle any feathers of its leadership nor induce some reformation of the scandal-inducing conditions?

It will be recalled that Martin now joins the growing number of causalities as a result of the unfolding scandal; a junior minister have already been forced to step down pending an inquiry, while two Labour lawmakers have been suspended and a senior adviser to a government minister has also been forced to quit. Also a Conservative member of parliament Douglas Hogg, who was sharply criticized over reports he claimed thousands of pounds in expenses for cleaning the moat around his second home, said on Tuesday he would step down before the next election. Icheoku says, this shows that corruption is not an exclusive preserve of African and other developing countries; but unlike in African and developing countries, their masses are never left high and dry but are provided with basic amenities of life, hence they rarely feel the impact; and not like the ravaged and pillaged Africans!