Michael Martin: Last Bastion of Old Labour

Magnus Linklater, The Times May 20, 2009

No explanation. No regrets. Just a 35-second resignation statement, with one curious reference to the unity of the House of Commons. But that reference is crucial. Michael Martin is, first and last, an organisation man, and the organisation to which he owes his loyalty is not the public, but the power base that he represents.

For most of his life that has been the Labour Party in Scotland - the old, pre-Blair party machine that still holds sway, particularly in the west. It has never set much store by openness or accountablity, it has protected its institutions and people with ruthless self-interest, and it resents bitterly any attempt to challenge its authority.

For more than 50 years after the war, it ran councils and constituencies as a self-perpetuating oligarchy, with a code as rigid as that of a latterday mafia. The assumption that Labour was the natural expression of the people's opinion was so endemic that the people themselves were rarely required to be involved in its affairs.

So, when Mr Martin responded to the wave of outrage that has swept the country in the wake of the expenses scandal by turning on his critics rather than promising to expose the abuse, he was merely reflecting the system he represents.

As did his defenders. Jim Sheridan, the Labour MP for Paisley & Renfrew North, accused Nick Clegg of being “opportunistic and cowardly” in attacking the Speaker, complaining that Mr Martin was being hounded “like a paedophile”; Jim Devine, MP for Livingston, said that Mr Martin should be allowed to make his own decision without interference from other Members.

For these and their colleagues of the old school, the normal rules of democracy seem no longer to apply. They have ceased listening to the people they represent, and seem even to question why that should be part of their responsibility. Opening hospitals or touring schools has taken the place of understanding the voter. This is the true corruption of a party that has been in power too long - it is not the bathplugs or flat-screen TVs that matter in the end, but the failure to connect with those who put them there in the first place.

For Mr Martin and his supporters, the expenses story was seen as an unwarranted intrusion into private affairs rather than an exposure of abuse. These diehard representatives of Labour hegemony seem to believe that power is theirs by right, rather than something to be fought for. In the long course of Labour domination, the fundamental question of why they came to politics in the first place has become blurred. The old notions of championing equality, fighting poverty and defending the underprivileged have grown emptier over the years as the gap between rich and poor has widened. And poverty appears as ingrained as ever, while the underprivileged remain just that.

No one walking through Mr Martin's constituency of Glasgow North East yesterday could have failed to note the stark contrast between the deprivation on the streets, and the stories of refurnished second homes and thousand-pound food bills that have been front-page fare for the past two weeks. The gap between the haves and the have-nots has always been incendiary in politics. It is what brought Labour to power in the first place. Now, as the voters look around, they see that, for all the promises, the reality of their own lives bears no comparison with the luxuries to which their MPs have grown accustomed. That is why the anger is so palpable, the desire for electoral revenge almost tangible.

One woman, approached by a Times reporter yesterday, summed up the mood of disillusion in this way: “After I have paid my bills I have nothing. I can't afford to buy my TV licence. The people at the social tell us that teabags are luxuries and then you hear what the MPs spend their money on, and Michael Martin has been protecting them. I would never vote for Labour again.” This is the voice that Labour should have been listening to, but it is a voice that it has ceased to hear.

The resignation of Speaker Martin is perhaps the last blast of a trumpet, the sound of which has become increasingly strangulated.

In 1999, when Scotland elected its new Parliament, it did so under proportional representation, so Labour had to form a coalition at Holyrood rather than rule unchallenged. Local councils too were elected under the PR system, leading to a silent but stunning revolution: no single council in the whole of Scotland is now controlled solely by Labour, a state of affairs unimaginable ten years ago.

The City of Glasgow, once the very bastion of old Labour power, is now run, efficiently and well, by an openly gay new Labour moderniser, Steven Purcell, who has presided over reforms that include the semi-privatisation of all the city's museums, libraries and galleries.

Only at Westminster, where old Labour diehards continued to be returned, has the dynasty remained unchallenged. That story, however, is now ending, and the resignation of Speaker Martin may well prove to be the catalyst that brings about its conclusion.

When the by-election is called in Glasgow North East, the idea, once widely touted, that Mr Martin's son Paul - a Member of the Scottish Parliament - would inherit the seat under the old, unwritten rules, will be tossed out of the window. Not only has Mr Martin Jr ruled himself out, the party would be crushed if it was seen to be perpetuating a discredited system.

Labour must now reinvent itself, go back to its roots and discover again the simple maxim that it is there to serve the people rather than help itself to power. When, at the next general election, it presents itself to the voters, it must do so in sackcloth and ashes and in a mood of humble contrition - as different as it is possible to be from the mumbled resignation speech of a man who simply failed to recognise that history has moved on.

Sheffield voters have changed their council from Labour to Lib Dem simply because the Lib Dem candidates and councillors listened to their constituents and acted on it.

PVParker, Sheffield,

It's a truism of left wing politics,despite it's own factionalism, that the truth is so self evident that anyone who disagrees with it either doesn't understand it or must be actively malicious. It's what has allowed the old labour party to ignore the electorate and vilify it's enemies for so long.

Iain, Edinburgh, UK

I actually don't want the Labour Party to "present itself to the voters' ever again. I would like to see left wing politics simply made illegal. It is morally bankrupt to steal from those who work and are successful and hand it to the lazy and feckless on a plate.

Topper, London,

"no single council in the whole of Scotland is now controlled solely by Labour, a state of affairs unimaginable ten years ago." What about Glasgow... amongst others. How can a political commentator expect to be taken seriously when it is obvious that they know nothing about politics!

Christina de Kéroualle, Aberdeen, Scotland

I was astonished the Scottish Labour Party "has never set much store by openness or accountablity. It has protected its institutions and people with ruthless self-interest, and it resents bitterly any challenge its authority". That is not my definition of democracy and bodes ill for us all.

Brian Lewis, Manila, Philippines

Who was it said, ' A country gets the goverment it deserves'? The percentage of voters at local and National elections is a disgrace. The UK is full of committed and talented people who are fit to represent us in parliament, vote and make sure they get in next time.

Jackie carroll, winchester, hampshire

A few weeks ago all honourable members of the Cabinet were battling, frantically, to be the loudest voice on TV demanding that failure should not be rewarded with a generous pension pot. So can we expect that failure is reflected in Martin's pot ? They really just don't get it do they ?

Nick Ansell, Wilmslow, Cheshire

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Terms and conditions Print Email Post to del.icio.us Post to Fark Post to Yahoo! Post to Digg Also in Magnus Linklater Holyrood's talking about MPs' expenses - just not in public A constitutional earthquake that didn’t rock the state of the union Also in Columnists Europe waits for Germany to come to the rescue Fiona McCade: Do you come to the water cooler often? That’s no pistol in your pocket, my little darling Times Recommends Will the next Speaker get the new era? There's a whole wide world out there Last bastion of old Labour collapses

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Magnus Linklater

Magnus Linklater's journalistic career spans 40 years, taking him from editor of Londoner's Diary at the Evening Standard to editor of Spectrum and the Colour Magazine at The Sunday Times and editor of The Scotsman. He joined The Times in 1994 and writes a weekly column on Wednesdays. He was chairman of the Scottish Arts Council from 1996 to 2001, and often writes on Scottish issues

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