Bellowing Bercow a peer? Lords help us!
CAN you believe it! After the refusal of the Government to follow tradition by offering former House of Commons Speaker and anti-Brexiteer John Bercow a peerage, Jeremy Corbyn has nominated him. No doubt Bercow will accept the honour, as he clearly enjoys being in the public eye. He would fit right in with the House of Lords’ incumbents, the majority of whom are staunch supporters of EU membership. What a slap in the face for those who voted to Leave that we will still be paying for Bercow’s privileges in the Upper House. It will be interesting to see with which political group he sits. Maybe in gratitude to Corbyn, he’ll join Labour peers as Lord Berk of Islington.
C. SIMPSON, Wokingham, Berks. FORMER MPs should be banned from being elevated to the House of Lords. They have retired, been deselected or defeated in an election so have passed their sell-by date and should not be allowed to sit in the Lords collecting £313-a-day attendance allowance on top of their MP’s pension.
C. PASCOE, Biggin Hill, Kent. AFTER a lifetime of decrying the status of, and the need for, the House of Lords, Jeremy Corbyn has nominated John Bercow and Tom Watson for peerages. Is Mr Watson’s nomination driven by guilt over the way he was treated by the Labour Party? Is Bercow’s proposed elevation a two-fingered salute to the electorate and the Conservative Party? Should the former Speaker’s elevation be granted, I would suggest he takes the title Lord Bercow of Quislings.
NICK ATKINS, Swindon, Wilts. ENNOBLING Zac Goldsmith and Nicky Morgan are better examples of stuffing the bloated House of Lords with cronies.
HENRY PARTRIDGE, York. I WOULD not normally agree with Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey, but her stance of no peerage for Bercow and the abolition of the House of Lords gets my vote.
ALLAN J. EYRE, Middlesbrough. BERCOW frustrating the will of the British people assured the defeat of Labour in the General Election. If he joins the House of Lords, he could bring about its demise.
IAN DUCKWORTH, rochdale, Gtr Manchester.