News of inappropriate use of public money by members of Parliament has forced Michael Martin, the speaker of the House of Commons, to announce his resignation, which will be effective in late June. His replacements have not been announced yet.

While Prime Minister Gordon Brown attempts to do damage control over the political scandal, which includes using public money for pornographic videos, the public in Great Britain is furious, especially with all the other financial problems that have been affecting many British citizens. The parliament is seen as a private club of the elites, who live in a life of luxury at the expense of the people. This imagery makes it much harder for the Prime Minister to repair the reputation of his parliament, because any calls for “independent” regulators to monitor spending expense by members of parliament seem to be empty in integrity. This expense scandal has also hurt members of parliament who was not involved with the scandal at all, because the public nevertheless view these innocent members as part of the corrupt system.

I do not think the resignation of the speaker Martin would be effective enough to repair the political image of the current ruling government. I think political opponents will use this scandal as their means to kick out the current government and secure their election victory. The Labour Party has not been doing well even before this scandal.