** The views expressed herein are the views of one person, and not neccesarily those of the Conservative Party - Parliamentary or Constituency. **

This past two weeks has seen both a minister and shadow minister give up front bench positions, two Labour MP's suspended from the parliamentary party, and now the Speaker of the House has resigned. What has politics come to that we are told that MP's have tabled a motion of no confidence in a man whom they elected, and that is supposed to stand above the fray?

I must admit I feel awfully sorry for Mr Martin, he has done wonders for his constituents, and has tried to do a good job as speaker, even if he did midinterpret the role. Needless to say the man resigned his post and "jumped before he was pushed." David Cameron was quick to say that he had done the right thing, but that this country needed a General Election - but do we?

Well, my attitude is that we do need a General Election. After all we did not elect the current government, and now... much like John Major's conservative government before it... sleaze and corruption has brought the government (and politics) to the edge of oblivion. This government, or more to the point this parliament, has lost it's credibility and moral authority and as such has lost what every parliament requires - its popular mandate to govern.

Could the parliament do anything to fix this without a General Election? Well yes it could but no matter what measures those in Westminster Palace take; the public will look at the parliament as a Lame Duck... too full of scheming, "on-the-take" politicians who are all too interested in internal machinations. They will view the parliament as not focussed on the matters affecting the country today; in other words TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.

If for no other reason alone, Gordon Brown should formally request a dissolution of parliament so that those who have misappropriated funds in the extreme can be purged from Westminster, and hopefully the next Government will have regained some element of trust from the public. Gordon Brown is not Bill Clinton, Boris Johnson or George W. Bush - he cannot get away with this kind of political tom-foolery.

At least there MIGHT be a silver lining in that this whole fiasco might just remove some of the general public's political apathy, and get them involved in politics again!

Whatever happens, when the Election does occur, I will not be the least bit surprised if UKIP win seats (not neccesarily a bad thing on the EU front) and likewise I would not be surprised if the BNP or other far-out political parties gain seats - undoubtedly a disaster for democracy in this country.