Britain could face early general election

THE most senior official in the lower house of parliament apologised to the British nation for an expenses scandal among lawmakers that has prompted growing calls for an early general election.

“Please allow me to say to the men and women of the United Kingdom that we have let you down very badly indeed,” Speaker Michael Martin said in a speech to a packed chamber.

Sidestepping calls to step down over his handling of the crisis, Martin said he would meet party leaders within the next 48 hours to discuss reforms to an allowances system which has seen lawmakers claim for everything from bath plugs and biscuits to cat food and cleaning work on their swimming pools.

“We must all accept blame and to the extent that I have contributed to the situation, I am profoundly sorry,” said Martin, dressed in the Speaker’s black robe.

Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for “root and branch” reform to defuse a scandal that has damaged all the main political parties but appears to be hitting Labour hardest after 12 years in power.

David Cameron, whose Conservative party is well ahead in opinion polls, urged Britons to campaign for an early general election, saying the removal of the Speaker would not be enough to restore parliament’s authority.

Martin, a former metal worker and trade union official who grew up in Scotland, blocked a debate over his future in parliament.

If ousted, he would be the first Speaker to be sacked since John Trevor lost his post for taking bribes in 1695. His departure would spark a by-election in his constituency in Glasgow and could add to calls for a national poll.

The Speaker is the highest authority in the lower house and represents the chamber to the monarch. His duties include keeping order during debates, calling lawmakers to speak and making sure they follow the rules of parliament.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker said: “Today’s performance was terrible, frankly. I am afraid he signed his own political death warrant today.”

An election is due by mid-2010 but Brown is expected to resist pressure to go to the polls with the country in its deepest recession since World War Two.

However, one of his own Labour MPs said he thought Brown would have to cede to the demands.

“I think we are going to have an early general election over this issue,” Labour MP Rob Marris said. “That is not a bad thing in my mind because of the lack of confidence of the electorate in parliament as an institution.”

The prime minister said he had been “angered and appalled” by disclosures about MPs’ questionable and sometimes lavish expenses. “There’s got to be root and branch reform,” Brown said.

Speaking at a campaign launch in northern England, Cameron said he was launching a drive for an election, the second leader of a major party to follow this route. “We are turning the campaign we had planned for these elections into the campaign Britain now needs: a campaign for a general election, to be held as soon as possible after June 4,” he said.

Experts said that it was a good tactical move by Cameron to embarrass the government, but doubted it would lead to an early election.

“He might get signatures from Conservative activists and indeed from other people as well, and letters to the newspapers, but I don’t think it will actually produce an outcome,” said Wyn Grant, politics professor at Warwick University.