As a former civil servant, albeit not in the U.K. I was bound by civil service regulations. Amongst those regulations was a stipulation that air miles earned on official government business were the property of the government. I have no doubt had I acted as Martin has in gifting such air miles to my family, not only would I have faced disciplinary proceedings but I rather suspect the Police would have been interviewing me over contraventions of the Theft Ordinance. Martin is following in the New Labour path previously trodden by Mandelson, Prescott and Hain to name but three. He is a disgrace to the office he holds.

Callan, Hong Kong, China

Shouldn't Mr. Martin be Speaker of the Scottish Parliament?

Phil Linehan, Mexico City, Mexico

I quite agree "His handling of Prime Minister's Questions has frequently been an embarrassment" On far to many occasions he has allowed Mr Cameron to make Party Political Broadcasts rather than ask clear cut questions.

Anthony J, Alton, UK

Out of order! Out of order!

christopher durant, chagford, U.K.

It is little wonder that Scots are heading towaeds independance, when the brolly brigade in London continue to behave like bigots

Wm O'Brien, Cumbernauld, Scotland

Is he that much different from the rest of the fiddlers - or is it just that we expect more from a person in his position of trust? - stop laughing, its not a laughing matter.

Marty, London, England

It is admitted, even by this government, that Martin has accumulated AirMiles from flightrs paid for by his employer (US!) which he then adopted for his personal use - in this case gave to his family.

If I did this then the Inland Revenue would treat my gain as a benefit in kind and demand 'their' 40%.

As they are not demanding a cut from Mick Martin, can I assume that they believe the speaker to be above the law - just as their colleagues in the Police believe Nottingham Social workers to be?

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

If you accept that lots of MP's have claimed expenses to feather their nests by stretching regulation to breaking point and that includes current cabinet ministers and if you also accept that they cover a broad spectrum of background and nationality (including scottish) - If you sweep that all aside and ask the real question which Is "Has this man been totally impartial in carrying out his official duties at the House and competent in his various administrative duties"?
If he can only rely on the Labour Party for support I would have to conclude that he is not fit for his high office which should be to accommodate all shades of opinion and by so doing would logically command universal support.

philip, Ipswich,

I don't even live there; it's none of my business; and I think he should resign.

JT, Austin, TX, USA

And, while all this is going on, what about Britain?

Is anyone at the bridge, in the cockpit, at the wheel?

Garth Rex, Glendale Heights, USA

Yes, he should resign - but honourable resignations do sadly seem a thing of the past, too many of those who have resigned in recent years seeming to resurrect themselves.
John Bulcock, Sydney.

john bulcock, sydney, australia

Parliament does not really do its job of properly representing the British people. There are many reasons not least the apathy shown by the general public about such things. But high on the list of factors that are wrong is that the Speaker is quite unsuitable; so long as he remains there is no possibility of getting matters right.

Dr J Findlater, Carnforth,

Why should he resign, he should be sacked with no benefits at all like the rest of us if we did something wrong and were incompetent.
He is the worst speaker i have ever known, his bias toward the Labour party is glaringly obvious as he should be impartial. iI have no allegiance to any of the main three parties but the way he treats everyone but Labour is shameful.

Samantha Jones, Bucks, England

Some of the comments below are not fit for a national discussion forum. I am a Scot and abhor the greed and dishonesty of many of the MPs. The fact that they happen to be born in a particular place or be a particular race is of no account. I dislike being tarred with the same brush, and take offence at many of the comments now appearring. Please show a little manners and respect for the 99.9% of honest law abiding people who happen to live farther north than you.
Thank You.

Harvie, Glasgow,

The nation gets the government it deserves, and Parliament the Speaker.

David Williams, Eastnor, England

be careful on how one outs a speaker and if one does make sure a new speaker is selected on ability and not a political choice or we could end up with revolving doors at the back of the speakers chair as the speaker could be changed to suit the will or mood of the "house" at any time.

A. Kernahan, blackpool, lancashire

Are you sure you lectured at Cambridge? Martin is in no way reponsible for members treating the House as a private club.Press pundits are reknown for indulging thier extravagant tastes in the palace. Members have been treating the place like a private club for many hundreds of years. All newspapers have ignored the avaricious attiudes of members for years. I am firmly against the vast majoity {with probably only 30 left wing members being straight] stuffing thier pockets and stomachs at the tax payers expense. However the attacks on martin are based on class and snobbery. I do not read about George Young {allegedly a favourite for next speaker} being castigated for his use of tax payers money, but of course he went to Eton, old chap. You politcal scribblers are not for real. Ive had enough of "pots calling kettles",shame on all of you.

John Eadie MacGregor, Doncaster, South yorks

If Mr Martin cared at all about how the public perceive MP's, and the whole political system, he would not have, personally got into the position he is in now, or allowed the system as a whole to be seen so badly by the public.

The fact MP's are allowed to be corrupt, under their own rules and laws, means the system will always be abused somewhere down the line.

Arthur, Newcastle,

Tim Hames is absolutely on the money here in more ways than one. Not only has Martin played fast and loose with the pathetic financial controls and got away with it because of the system of self-monitoring our MPs enjoy but he has been a very second rate Speaker. When cronies like Lord Foulkes of Cumnock have to fall back on playing the class enemy card in seeking to blame Oxbridge educated southerners for this you know that the Government must be desperate. The need for institutional reform of this rotten system is pressing. Don't hold your breath though. Who'd give up the privileges these MPs enjoy unless they really had to?

Tim Morris, Marlow, Bucks

I saw an appalling interview with that smug 'toff' Benn this morning trying (and pathetically) failing to justify the dreadful behaviour of this speaker. Martin is an ignorant fool and and the worst and most biased speaker the House of Commons has ever had.

To try to justify him by saying he is the victim of some sort of class war is typical of Benn and his ilk. Their modus operandi is to try to blame the victim (in this case the taxpayer) as somehow reponsible for the evil that has been done against them. We see this regularly in reporting by the left wing press. Despicable.

Jay, London,

After working at the Palace of Westminster for several years in the late 1990s I decided never to vote again.

A large percentage of mps (irrespective of party) treated the place like a private club & expected every petty whim to be accomodated with no regard for public money.

None of this surprises me at all - depressingly its endemic to the culture of the place.

Spoiled vote, London, UK

Only goes to show that Gordon Brown has lost the knack of power by offering the Speaker support. And also shows how decayed politics has become that such a man could become Speaker (think of the grand personalities from left and right in the past who held the post) and then that he should have the temerity to try to hold on.

Chris Gillibrand, Brussels, Belgium/ Uncertain State!

No chance he will resign: He would never admit his own incompetence and corruption. No chance 'Gorgon' will sack him as well as being working class and Labour, he's Scottish.

Tony Jones, Grantham, Lincs

Martin is a bumbling and totally unprofessional Speaker. His misuse of public funds would get him arrested in most other walks of life.
He should resign, forthwith.

katherine langton, Blackburn,

He should go.

I find it ridiculous people are saying this is due to his background etc. What a load of rubbish.

I can't wait until Labour are out and take their cronies with them.

Chris, Amsterdam,

Another working class lad respresenting Nu Labour and devoting his life to caring for OAPs and the poor.
He, his wife and family have lived off the tax payer for years and she, apparently, prefers to ride by taxis than catch a bus as she did when employed as a factory worker on a production line. We don't mind that but do object to paying for her taxis.

c donnelly, beverley, UK

Irrespective of his background, he's another haggis-bashing Scot that we could well do without.
A pox on Joel Barnett say I!
Nu-Labour has turned me into an English Xenophobe, and you know what?
I'm now proud of it!

j.b.windmill, brierley hill, ENGLAND

This has NOTHING to do with his 'working class' backgroun and ALL to do with, if not illegally taking tax payers money,then immorally taking tax payers money.
I am so tired of all the talk and NO action on these MPs and MSPs .
They should be punished.
Neither you nor I get away with a penny as far as the Inalnd Revenue are concerned.
Why then are MPs allowed to make fools of us all with these so called perks?

Disgruntled Dorothy, Glasgow, Scotland

The whole of MPs expenses ,in all its forms, urgently needs a complete overhaul but under no circumstances by any committes chaired by the Speaker´
Generous expenses to MPs is used consistently to increase their quite generous salaries. I am minded by Frank Field when he was recently commenting on the misdemeaners of Conway. In Harold Wilsons day when there was a pay freeze.for MPs They were told that they could up their generous expenses to compensate.. It!s a complete racket and one in which REvenue and Customs should be involved.

Thomas Stallwood, Malaga, Spain

Mr Martin's constituancy address at Smeaton Drive is not in Glasgow but Bishopbriggs East Dunbartonshire. This is inaccurate information

C O'Neil, Bishopbriggs,

It speaks volumes that Martin's only supporters are Labour MPs. Their chorus of support does more to undermine him, even as it props him up in the Speaker's chair.

It also spoke volumes that the Labour party installed him in defiance of the recent convention that the speakership should rotate between the parties. Stand down and let's have a Lib Dem or a Conservative - the Labour party's reputation would also benefit from the departure of this speaker.

John Allen, Oxford, UK

It's time for Mr Martin to discover that he needs to spend more time with his family..... in Glasgow ..... not by flying them all down south at our expense.

Donna Walker, Effingham, Surrey

The 'working class lad from Glasgow' cannot do wrong as he is working class and Labour. Can he? Look at his supporters who say he is witch-hunted-Blunket who quit under a cloud and Beckett who employs her husband as her office manager.

If Brown is decisive he should whisper his fellow Scot to take a journey to Galsgow back. Claiming expenses for a house which does not have a mortgage is dishonesty pure and simple. This person has to go and go immediately.

Gary Smith, LONDON,

Mr Martin, like much of the current Labour government, is an embarrasment to our country and represents only his own, selfish interests. When will we, as a nation, stand up to this government and tell them that enough is absolutely enough? God-willing by the next general election, at the very latest.

James Reed, Stamford,

Martin has demeaned the office of Speaker. He should do the honourable thing and resign now whilst his conduct is fully investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken.

J Crawshaw, Oundle,