Anger at Bercow’s crude car message
SPEAKER John Bercow faced fresh wrath from MPs last night after a sticker declaring ‘B ****** s to Brexit’ was spotted on his car.
The controversial MP, who previously admitted he voted Remain, has been criticised in recent days following allegations that he bullied Commons staff.
His latest move is likely to further antagonise MPs seeking his replacement and yesterday prompted questions about his impartiality.
The role of Speaker is meant to be politically impartial, with the holder giving up their party allegiance and traditionally standing unchallenged in their seat at general elections.
The sticker was spotted in the window of Mr Bercow’s black Land Rover, which sports a personalised number plate.
It is not known whether the vehicle is also used by his wife Sally. It was reported last night she had put a poster in the windscreen, with an EU flag, claiming it is her car and she can ‘do anything she wants’.
The Speaker’s Office said it would not be commenting on the sticker.
Tory MP James Duddridge said Mr Bercow was undermining the impartiality of the Speaker’s role. ‘The Speaker is just not toeing the line, he is leaping across it,’ he said. ‘Having views on Brexit, conducting himself as if he is the Foreign Secretary, banning people from Parliament.
‘Who in their right mind would put that sticker in their car? He is going to have to be the swing voter if Parliament is tied in a debate on Brexit. We have a laundry list of things that he cannot be in the chair for.’
Mr Duddridge added that he was thinking of getting his own car stickers printed saying ‘B ***** Off Bercow’.
Mr Bercow took over as Speaker in 2009, but his time in the role has been punctuated by controversy. On Monday, he remained in the chair for a Commons debate on claims about bullying at Parliament, despite being the subject of one of the allegations. His high-handed style has irritated members on both sides of the House and MPs have repeatedly tried to replace him, including an attempt to out him on the eve of the 2015 election.
The campaign against him last year began after he told the Commons he would oppose any attempt to let Donald Trump address both Houses of Parliament during his UK state visit. It gathered momentum after he told students he voted Remain in the Referendum during a question and answer session in February last year.
He said this was ‘partly for economic reasons … and partly because I think we’re in a world of power blocs’.
Mr Bercow added: ‘I think that for all the weaknesses and deficiencies of the European Union, it is better to be part of that big power bloc in the world than thinking you can act as effectively on your own.’