Pressure was last night piled on Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, after Harriet Harman called for a review of how MPs' offices are protected from police raids, while reports suggested some MPs might seek to disrupt Wednesday's Queen's Speech and call for his resignation.
Pressure was last night piled on Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, after Harriet Harman called for a review of how MPs' offices are protected from police raids, while reports suggested some MPs might seek to disrupt Wednesday's Queen's Speech and call for his resignation.
With little sign of the heat dissipating from the row over the arrest and detention of Damian Green, the Conservatives' spokesman on immigration, on suspicion of conspiring to receive leaked Home Office information, the MPs are not above the law, that actually they are able to get on with their job without unwarranted interference by the law," she added.
Later yesterday, the Speaker's Office announced that Mr Martin would address MPs on Wednesday about the police raid. However, it was unclear how and when he would do this as a statement could disrupt the timetable for the Queen's Speech.
"The House will always expect the Speaker to inform MPs first. The Speaker will be speaking to the House when the House returns," said Mr Martin's spokeswoman.
As MPs' anger continued yesterday, there were reports that disgruntled members could seek to interrupt proceedings in the Commons chamber to protest.
Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP for Harwich, has openly called for the Speaker to resign. Yesterday, an unnamed veteran MP was quoted as saying: "Many of us have had enough of him. A vote of confidence is becoming more likely by the day."
David Cameron took a thinly veiled swipe at the Commons authorities for apparently "not thinking twice" about allowing officers to raid his colleague's parliamentary office, while William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said the Opposition wanted to know if the Speaker had given permission for the police raid and who authorised the suspension of Mr Green's parliamentary e-mail.
The Tory leader also accused the Prime Minister of hypocrisy for not speaking out against the arrest after "making a career out of Whitehall leaks" himself.
On the Labour side, ex-minister Denis MacShane demanded a statement from the Speaker, branding the police raid "an unprecedented breach of parliamentary privilege". Ken Clarke, Tory former home secretary, drew a parallel with Watergate and likened the episode to "President Nixon's America harrassing political opponents of the government".
However, Jacqui Smith refused to apologise for Mr Green's arrest, saying the Metropolitan Police had to be allowed to "follow the evidence where they need to" without ministerial interference.
Mr Green, 52, who represents Ashford in Kent, was arrested last Thursday. The MP was questioned for nine hours by police. He denies any wrongdoing.Commons Leader said she understood the concerns of MPs over Thursday's raid on his Commons office, saying "big constitutional principles" were at stake.
"The Speaker might well want to review the processes by which authorisation is given to search the Palace of Westminster, but there was also the question of the search of his home and the constituency office. We have got to be sure that while
