England: Martin faces being first speaker to to be axed in 300 years

Michael Martin yesterday moved perilously close to being the first Speaker of the House of Commons for more than 300 years to get the sack, as anger over his handling of the MPs' expenses row spread.

MPs are furious about his perceived failure to read the public reaction to the expenses row, and the abrupt manner in which he has refused to listen to MPs who criticise him.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, described his recent actions as "very wrong", and both Gordon Brown and David Cameron pointedly failed to rally to his defence.

Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP who is trying to organise a vote of "no confidence" that would force Mr Martin out of office, said yesterday he had picked up support from both main parties.

Mr Brown took telephone calls from ministers convinced that Mr Martin has to go before the Commons can restore the damage that the expenses row has done to its reputation.

One minister below cabinet level said: "Martin has simply failed to grasp events."

Mr Martin's first priority since details of MPs' expenses claims became public has been to call in the police to find out who leaked the information.

There was also an extraordinary scene in the Commons when he lost his temper with the Labour MP Kate Hoey, who suggested that calling the police was a waste of money.

He told her that it was "easy" for her to utter "pearls of wisdom" when she did not have to make the difficult decisions he faced.

He meted similar treatment to the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker.

"I think the Speaker got it wrong, very wrong," Mr Clegg said at a press conference yesterday.

"It is clear Parliament as a whole owes an apology to the British public. He needs to reflect that sense of apology and the urgency for new rules that put MPs beyond any further suspicion."

Mr Cameron's comments at another press conference revealed more by what he left out than what he said.

Making no mention of Mr Martin by name, he said: "I think it's a very important constitutional principle that the Opposition supports the office and the role of the Speaker."

A senior party source said later: "For David Cameron to call on the Speaker to resign would create a constitutional crisis. He was being guarded."

Downing Street was also careful not to breach the constitutional rule that the Speaker is appointed by the House of Commons, independently of government, though it dismissed one rumour yesterday afternoon that a "delegation" of ministers had been to see Mr Brown to say Mr Martin must go.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "There are lots of phone calls all the time, but the story as reported that there has been a delegation coming to Downing Street is not accurate. The Prime Minister is not responsible for the appointment of the Speaker. The House of Commons appoints the Speaker. That is the right way of doing things."

If the motion drafted by Mr Carswell is debated by MPs, it will be the first time that a Speaker has faced a formal challenge to his authority since Sir John Trevor was sacked for taking bribes in 1695.

Mr Carswell added: "Mr Martin is a very nice person. He is very affable and likeable. He is very good at being Mr Martin. He is just not very good at being Mr Speaker."

Yesterday, Mr Martin pointedly refused to back down when the veteran Labour MP David Winnick suggested he should apologise for the previous day's outburst. Mr Winnick told him: "An MP should be able to raise a point of order without personal comments, which some of us at least consider inappropriate. Shouldn't the Speaker always refrain from personal comments?"

Mr Martin replied: "That was the business of yesterday." Mr Winnick said afterwards that he thought the reply was "inadequate".

- INDEPENDENT