The Queen no friend of Michael Martin

The Speaker Michael Martin's decision to deny all responsibility for the controversial police raid on MP Damian Green's office in the House of Commons and pass the buck to his Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay - as described by the Mole elsewhere on The First Post - will not have endeared him to the Queen, never a great fan of "Gorbals Mick" as his many detractors call the old-style Labour class warrior.

Ironically, the key reason for Royal disapproval is Martin's decision to downgrade the role of Serjeant at Arms, a position that until recently gave the holder responsibility for the security of the entire Palace of Westminster, but which is now restricted to the Commons chamber only.

By convention, holders of the position, which dates back eight centuries, begin and end their tenure with an audience with the Sovereign. But Jill Pay, appointed by Martin six months ago, has not received a word from the Queen. Buckingham Palace claim this is because there is no space in HMQ's diary.

Asked about the apparent snub, Pay, the first woman to hold the job, told the Daily Telegraph: "I am not going down this route; I'm not going to discuss it any further."

Although the selection of the Serjeant at Arms - the oldest royal bodyguard in England, dating from the 12th century - has always been made by the Speaker's office, Buckingham Palace at least regarded it as a Crown appointment. However, Martin, in an attempt to wipe out the so-called "men in tights" culture of the court, deliberately avoided appointing a public school-educated, retired army officer to the post, as had been the norm for centuries. ·