Speaker Martin angers Commons as he fails to quit

The Speaker could be forced out by the summer after his attempt today to desperately buy time failed to silence his critics.

Michael Martin completely lost the House when he announced he was convening all-party talks between Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron to thrash out an agreed approach to the expenses row that has brought the Commons into public disrepute.

In chaotic scenes, he was heckled when he failed to announce he was stepping down, and stumbled over the procedure for debating a motion calling for him to quit.

Sounding badly briefed by his own clerks, and looking harrassed, Martin had to face angry calls for him to go including some from his own side, including David Winnick and Gordon Prentice.

A group of supporters of the Speaker led by Frank Dobson and Martin Salter tried to rally support for Mr Martin, saying he was being made a scapegoat for the mistakes of MPs from all parties.

But his failure to offer to step down will guarantee that the cross-party motion calling for him to stand down immediately will appear on the Order Paper tomorrow. It will be tabled by Douglas Carswell and today it is gathering serious signatories, including Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary.

David Cameron was attempting to stay above the fray, with his aides insisting that it is a matter for the House as a whole to decide, but he is under growing pressure to tell Brown at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday that there has to be a vote on the Speaker before the end of the week.

David Davis, the former Shadow Cabinet minister, said: "This is now squarely in Gordon Brown's court. The House was clearly very unhappy today. This boil can only be lanced if we have a debate and make a decision on the Speaker before the end of the week."

Even some of the Speaker's supporters were appalled at his failure to 'get his act together' for his important statement, failing to know procedure for a possible debate on his future. "He was badly advised," said one of his allies. "He seemed stumbling and unprepared."