Bias of the man who shames democracy
JOHN BERCOW’S latest embarrassment is the revelation that he put a sticker in his car window saying ‘ B****** s to Brexit’ (believe it or not, the asterisks are my own). Some have condemned this adolescent stupidity as merely another example of how much he’s damaged British public life.
This is certainly true as far as it goes. The Speaker of the House of Commons should represent all that is best about our famed system of representative democracy, and it is of course deeply depressing that such a figure should descend to the use of such a cheap, shoddy and foul-mouthed phrase.
Not only that, the wording beneath that lurid phrase was ‘It’s not a done deal’, which shows not only that Mr Bercow disagrees with Brexit, but that he would like to see it reversed in defiance of the wishes of 17.4 million voters.
However, there is a much greater problem about his behaviour.
The Speaker ranks higher than either the Prime Minister or Leader of the Opposition in order of Parliamentary precedence, and has to make one immense sacrifice in return for this massive constitutional status.
He has a duty to be absolutely impartial in all dealings. In effect, he is not permitted to hold opinions of his own. This is because it is the job of the Speaker to ensure fair play in Parliament. This means he must be trusted by all, and never allow his personal beliefs or preferences to show themselves.
In this respect he is like the Monarch. Throughout her magnificent reign, the Queen has never given the faintest sign of holding any political beliefs. Nor should Mr Bercow.
This is why, at general elections, by convention rival parties never stand against the sitting Speaker in his constituency.
In short, a Speaker effectively gives up politics for good and renounces all ambition for ministerial office. Neither of his great predecessors, Betty Boothroyd and Bernard Weatherill, ever had a problem making this considerable sacrifice.
Sadly, Bercow has broken this rule.
And crucially, he has done so at a critical moment in our modern history.
For the next six months, the House of Commons will be divided as perhaps never before by a series of very sensitive and bitter debates about the most important issue to confront this country since the end of World War II.
As Speaker, Mr Bercow will have to ensure the right balance between Remainers and Brexiteers. He will have to respond to emergency interventions by MPs, and decide which amendments to accept.
He will be at the very eye of the storm at a time when the nation’s eyes will be upon Parliament.
In the wake of this revelation about Mr Bercow’s car sticker — and the sentiment it supports — such bias cannot be allowed.
Just imagine if the referee at a derby match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal announced he was a passionate Spurs supporter. Half the crowd would never tolerate it. Another comparison might be of a judge who announces before a trial begins that he very much hopes the defendant will rot in jail.
He would instantly be removed from the case.
Yet it will be Bercow’s role to referee the Brexit debate. It’s hard to think of a more openly partisan arbiter.
For that car sticker is not an isolated mistake, but the latest in a series of nakedly partisan remarks he’s made about Brexit.
Last year, for example, it emerged that he’d told a group of students he voted to stay in the European Union, and said immigration into Britain was a good thing.
At a political event in October, meanwhile, he suggested MPs have the right to try to block Brexit through Parliament. And in a thinly veiled reference to Brexit at a Commons event in January this year, he argued that voters on the wrong side of the referendum result are ‘perfectly entitled’ to continue arguing their case.
Before Remainers dismiss me as being a one-eyed Brexiteer, consider this point: were Mr Bercow a passionate Eurosceptic and had displayed a sign saying ‘B******s to Brussels’ on his car, his offence would have been equally great and I would still be arguing that he was unacceptable as Speaker.
If all this were not bad enough, matters were made worse this week when Mr Bercow became in an unpleasant row. It followed an investigation by the BBC’s Newsnight which made allegations of harassment and bullying by MPs against junior Parliamentary officials.
AMONG those accused of bullying was Mr Bercow, whose private secretary left her job in 2011. ( His spokesman firmly rejects the allegation.)
Despite calls from Tory MPs for him to step down, the Speaker was to be found perched in his chair in the Commons . . . to oversee a debate on the issue of bullying in Parliament.
But the matter of Bercow and Brexit is of far more gravity for this country’s future. Later this year, Parliament will face Decision Day on the deal Mrs May brings back from Brussels.
If that deal is rejected by Labour MPs desperate to damage the government, together with rebellious Remainer Tories, the consequences will be momentous. Failing to secure a majority, the Prime Minister might have to resign — triggering a bloody leadership battle — or go to the country, which could result in Mr Corbyn sitting in No 10.
Such a political crisis could also lead to a second EU referendum — which would be an insult to democracy. And what if the Commons vote on the Brexit deal is tied? The answer is that under House of Commons rules, Bercow will have the casting vote. That is unacceptable, given the message he sports in his car window.
In short, I fear for our Parliamentary democracy if the Speaker is allowed to remain in charge, because voters will rightly feel that those who do not respect the referendum result have taken charge.
For some, like myself, who believe British democracy is the envy of the world, this would be a disaster.
That’s why I believe Mr Bercow must take the unprecedented step of standing down as Speaker throughout the Brexit debates.
Indeed, when he ran for the Speakership nine years ago, he pledged he would step down by June 2018 at the latest. That time is nearly up.
If he refuses to be winkled from his oh- so gilded office, Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will surely have no choice but to intervene and force Speaker Bercow to remove himself.