Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, July 2, 2009

Martin Salter MP • Published 2 Jul 2009 08:00 0 Comments

IT was a real privilege last Thursday to be invited to speak at a victory rally for the Gurkhas in London alongside Joanna Lumley and the Gurkha Justice Campaign.

There was a wonderful atmosphere and a real sense of a job well done.

On Sunday I was present at the Armed Forces Day in the Forbury Gardens where 19 local veterans received their medals from the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and the Mayor of Reading. Once again, the biggest cheer went to the Gurkha veterans.

I have also been busy organising the successful campaign for the new Commons Speaker. Despite his murky past I came to the conclusion that John Bercow"s political "journey" was a genuine one and he was clearly the right candidate to help Parliament restore its reputation after recent scandals and to drag this arcane institution into the 21st century.

Reform is desperately needed, and our constituents need to be convinced that we are serious about it - particularly over allowances, procedures and accountability.

As public trust in Parliament and MPs has plummeted, Labour, as the party of Government, has been disproportionately damaged. We would not have started to repair that damage if we had elected a Speaker who was seen to symbolically represent the establishment or was perceived to stand for the status quo.

John Bercow was undoubtedly the 'clean break' candidate whose political impartiality and reforming zeal were recognised by Members from right the way across the political spectrum who came together to endorse him in a letter published in The Guardian on June 18.

His nomination was signed by no fewer than six political parties - more than any of the other candidates. The bile and hatred expressed towards Mr Bercow has done his Conservative enemies no favours, and made them look like the 'nasty party' that David Cameron has sought to airbrush out of history.

The new Speaker of the House of Commons was the free choice of Members of Parliament and whose commitment to reform and experience of Parliamentary procedure made him the front runner from day one of this historic contest.

I am not in the habit of either voting or campaigning for Conservatives, even left-leaning socially liberal ones, but John Bercow was the right choice. It is now up to the House of Commons to get behind him and his reform agenda.

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This blog appeared in Reading Chronicle 02 Jul 09

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