Bagehot: Come to mama

摘要

Sitting on his canopied chair, behind his bewigged clerks, smiling meekly and mildly calling "Order!", Michael Martin, the speaker of the House of Commons, seems an inoffensive sort of chap. But he has become the subject of a mini-scandal and the symbol of a big malaise. The scandal involves air miles and expense-account taxis; the malaise concerns the alleged venality and utility of Parliament itself. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, observed in the House of Commons this week that the public now doubts whether politicians offer value for money.