Sir George pitches in for Speaker (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Sir George pitches in for Speaker

1:00pm Friday 19th June 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(2)

NORTH West Hampshire MP Sir George Young has called for the House of Commons to become more confident and self-assertive.

His call came as he and the other candidates to be the new Speaker of the House of Commons, made their respective pitches for the backing of fellow MPs at the hustings organised by the Hansard Society.

Sir George said: “I would like to see a more confident, self-assertive, relevant, effective and accessible House of Commons.”

Sir George was pipped to the Speaker’s chair in 2000 by Michael Martin, who announced last month he would stand down in the wake of the expenses scandal that has engulfed the Commons.

And the expenses issue formed a key plank of Sir George’s speech.

He said the failure of MPs to provide a prompt response to the revelations allowed party leaders to fill the vacuum with “each outbidding the other to see who could be toughest on members”.

While the police should be called where there was fraud, the party leaders’ solutions risked “serious injustices being done” and were symptomatic of the Commons become too dependant on others to sort out its problems, he said.

Sir George, 67, said the Speaker was more referee than player, but should act as a catalyst for reform and be a strong proactive advocate for Parliament.

He added: “I hope to provide the right balance between neutrality when that is required, influence where that is appropriate and leadership when that is needed.”

The odds on the baronet, who started the race as favourite, becoming Speaker when MPs vote on Monday have improved in the last week from 5-1.

His main rivals are Marg-aret Beckett, John Bercow and Anne Widdecombe.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(2)