Britain’s House speaker resigns

LONDON – Battered by a scandal over politicians’ expense accounts, the speaker of Britain’s House of Commons bowed to the inevitable and announced his resignation Tuesday, becoming the first person to be forced from the post in more than 300 years.

In a terse statement lasting just 30 seconds, Michael Martin told his fellow lawmakers in Parliament’s lower chamber that he would step down June 21.

It was almost an anticlimactic end to days of suspense over Martin’s future, as a growing chorus of lawmakers expressed a loss of confidence in his leadership.

Martin was criticized heavily for his tone-deaf response to ongoing revelations that members of Parliament had claimed reimbursement from the public kitty for, among other things, the cost of manure to maintain one lawmaker’s garden and a massage chair for another’s London apartment.