The row over Commons speaker Michael Martin has intensified after senior Labour figures admitted there is nothing they can do to ease him out.

Downing Street was forced to backtrack on claims that he is viewed as "a liability".

The FT claims that Martin's links to the Amicus union, which virtually controls the whips' office, is protecting him.

It is also said that Blair does not want an embarrassing fight to dethrone the former Labour MP, who has said he will not go without a fight.

In an article in today's Times, Tony Benn argues that the speaker is doing what MPs elected him to do: defending them against ministers.