Questions questions

Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, apparently annoyed some Tory MPs yesterday when he called Dennis Skinner at the end of PMQs to ask a question about George Osborne. But today, when another MP tried to raise the matter, Martin blocked the question.

It came during questions to Sir Peter Viggers. Viggers is a Tory MP, not a minister, but he answers questions in the Commons (from the backbenches, not the dispatch box) on behalf of the Electoral Commission. The Labour MP David Winnick asked if the commission would investigate Osborne.

At that point Martin asked Winnick if he had told Osborne he would be raising the matter. "Of course not," Winnick replied.

But by convention an MP planning to criticise another MP in the chamber is supposed to give advance warning. Osborne wasn't there to hear what Winnick was saying about him and when Martin found out that the normal "courtesies" hadn't been observed, he told Viggers there was no need to answer.

Patrick Hennessy and Iain Dale have both blogged about the Tory reaction to Martin calling Skinner.

But the Labour MP Tom Harris has written a robust and thoughtful defence of the Speaker. The comments, which include a response from Dale, are worth looking at too.