Michael Martin MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, today warned that he will eject from the Chamber any Member of Parliament caught using a BlackBerry device, according to the BBC.

The £200 handheld computers can be used as a phone, pager or to send emails. Launched in 2001 by Canadian firm Research in Motion, BlackBerries hit the headlines this week when Alastair Campbell accidentally used his to send a four-letter tirade to a BBC journalist. Labour’s former Director of Communications seems not to have mastered the latest must-have accessory, admitting he was “not very good at this BlackBerry malarkey.”

Some Members have already been caught using them during debates, and Michael Martin seems to be losing patience. He also cautioned MPs against using hidden earpieces. His threats should be taken seriously: he threw Tory MP Henry Bellingham out of the Chamber in 2003 for using a camera phone.

However, it could be that Michael Martin is merely trying to protect MPs from themselves. Doctors at Imperial College London recently warned that overuse of the gadgets has spawned a new repetitive strain injury, dubbed ‘BlackBerry thumb’. In giving BlackBerries the thumbs down, the Speaker may be doing MPs a favour.