The latest example of Martin's Government-bias came when Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh queried why constituents would have to travel up to seven miles to a post office when Ministers insist that 99.7 per cent of North Yorkshire residents will remain within one mile of a branch.

Yet, rather than addressing this concern, Pat McFadden, the relevant Minister, was simply allowed to speak at length about the Post Office's funding arrangements – rather than the quite legitimate issue of customer care that had been raised by the Yorkshire Tory.

He's not the only culprit. Gordon Brown is a serial offender when it comes to avoiding questions at PMQs. But that is no excuse for the Speaker allowing Ministers to bring Parliament's reputation into further contempt. In case it has escaped Martin's attention, this is his day job – when he is not running up his expenses bill.



ON the subject of the Speaker, he could further improve Parliament's reputation if he used his considerable powers to ensure MPs actually asked meaningful questions when called.

The latest miscreant is Barnsley MP Jeff Ennis and his intervention on concessionary bus fares. He wants the scheme extended to sixth-form colleges, a fair point.

Yet he began his question to Rosie Winterton, the Transport Minister, with the line: "Does the Minister recall the meeting that we had this morning with representatives of the Doncaster youth council?"

Of course, she did. As Ms Winterton pointed out in her reply, the
meeting had taken place only five hours previously.

A more pertinent question might have been along the lines of how such schemes can be funded in the long-term – and who will foot the bill.

DAVID Davis will, intriguingly, have to catch the Speaker's eye if he wishes to speak in the Commons now that he has been re-elected as MP for Haltemprice and Howden.

The two do not get on; Davis is reportedly furious that Martin did not allow the former Shadow Home Secretary to make a resignation statement in the Commons when he decided to embark upon his by-election crusade a month ago.

As such, Home Office questions on Monday could be very intriguing. For, while Dominic Grieve, the new Shadow Home Secretary, puts the Government on the spot, will the Speaker allow Davis to do so from
the backbenches?

It also poses a dilemma for Tory leader David Cameron. Does he want his man – Grieve – to be upstaged by Davis, and, therefore, provide an opportunity for Labour MPs to point out that each of the votes accrued by the new Member for Haltemprice and Howden cost taxpayers £8 each?



SO much for Gordon Brown's call for people to eat more sensibly – and act more responsibly over the environment.

If his six-course lunch and eight-course dinner at the G8 summit was not enough to stomach after he called for an end to supermarkets selling "three-for-two" meal deals, the Prime Minister's plane to Japan had to be flown from the US to Britain after the Government failed to secure a British Airways flight.

Is this Brown's new definition of leading by example?



GEORGE Osborne made a revealing admission this week when he said that he was not an economic forecaster – before taking the Prime Minister to task over the Government's financial mismanagement.

Excuse me? As Shadow Chancellor, and the man who aspires to run the Treasury if the Tories return to power, shouldn't Osborne be just that – an economic forecaster?

For that is what he will have to do when he stands up and delivers his first Budget and starts coming to terms with the mess that Labour will leave behind.



HOW'S this for policy-making?
After paving the way for a simplified fares structure to be introduced on the railways, I see that the Government announced this
week that it has asked Passenger Focus – the rail industry's consumer champion – to conduct yet another review of ticketing arrangements.

Two points. This wouldn't be necessary if the latest changes had been thought through adequately before they were introduced. And, second, this exercise will be used as an excuse by the Department for Transport not to address the wider issue; namely why people are being priced off the railways in their millions.



IT must have been a tad depressing for Lewis Hamilton to receive his British Grand Prix trophy from Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary. Hamilton's victory, and the race, perhaps merited a more distinguished guest of honour to perform these duties.

But then I had second thoughts. At least Hamilton didn't have to be lectured by the likes of Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, about
the need to reduce his speed on the racetrack.



ON the theme of sport, Lewis Hamilton – and other high-profile competitors who are "precious" about their image – will have to go a long way to match the example set by Rafael Nadal, the new Wimbledon champion.

Too exhausted to compete in Germany this week after his epic encounter with Roger Federer, he withdrew from the Stuttgart tournament, and understandably so. But, rather than fax a letter to the organisers, he still caught a breakfast-time flight to the city to explain, in person, that he was pulling out because of injury.

Would others have shown as much class as the Spaniard? I doubt it. Well done, Rafael.