Labour in fresh split over bullying row
Labour is embroiled in a new row over the future of John Bercow after Jeremy Corbyn said his MPS should not “confuse” allegations about the Speaker’s role in the Westminster bullying scandal with the party’s Brexit priorities. Meanwhile, it was revealed that Valerie Vaz, the shadow cabinet minister leading Labour’s response to Dame Laura Cox’s bullying report, has been accused of wrongdoing – but the party is refusing to take action.
‘It has been decided there will not be an investigation into the complaint and no further action taken’
LABOUR is split over the future of John Bercow after Jeremy Corbyn said his MPS should not “confuse” allegations about the Speaker’s role in the Westminster bullying scandal with the party’s Brexit priorities.
Mr Bercow is under pressure to step down now after a report from Dame Laura Cox singled out “a shocking culture of fear and deference [that] is driven right from the top of the House of Commons”. Mr Bercow has faced claims – strongly denied – that he bullied two former officials.
Separately, it emerged that Valerie Vaz, the shadow cabinet minister leading Labour’s response to Dame Laura’s report, has herself been accused of wrongdoing – but the party is refusing to investigate formally or take action.
Ms Vaz, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, is accused by a former member of subjecting them to workplace bullying in 2012. She denies the allegations.
There was outrage on Tuesday when Dame Margaret Beckett, a former Labour Cabinet minister, said that keeping Mr Bercow, 55, in the Speaker’s chair during the Brexit process was more important than investigating bullying claims, saying that Brexit “trumps bad behaviour”.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, had also said that “this is absolutely not the time to be changing speaker” because of Brexit.
Mr Bercow, who admitted last year that he voted to remain in the 2016 referendum, is likely to play a key role in the parliamentary votes to approve Theresa May’s exit deal from the EU.
However, a spokesman for Mr Corbyn, the Labour leader, said: “Jeremy’s view is that the issue of Brexit and the issue of bullying, harassment and abuse in Parliament, or any workplace, are entirely separate, and shouldn’t be confused in any way.”
Referring to Ms Thornberry’s comments, Mr Corbyn’s spokesman said: “It’s not Jeremy’s view, and it’s not the view of the Labour leadership.” Ms Thornberry was expressing a “personal view” regarding Mr Bercow, the spokesman added.
MPS are now concerned that Mr Bercow will chair an emergency meeting of the House of Commons Commission on Monday which will consider the findings of Dame Laura’s report. A spokesman said Mr Bercow would decide whether to chair the meeting “in due course”.
Last night, the New Statesman disclosed that staff working for Mr Corbyn, and Nick Brown, the Labour chief whip, met with Ms Vaz – who is also a member of the commission – to discuss the allegations against her.
The same complainant also made the allegations about Ms Vaz to Dame Laura’s inquiry. Ms Vaz led Labour’s response to the inquiry during a House of Commons debate on Tuesday but failed to declare the complaint about her.
In a letter to the complainant in August, Labour’s head of complaints said: “The Labour Party has not codified a strict time limit on historic investigations but we have considered your case and believe the passage of time means it will be difficult to conclude a case fairly. Therefore we will not be taking formal disciplinary action.”
The letter continues: “It has been decided in this case that there will not be an investigation into the complaint and no further action taken.”
A spokesman for Ms Vaz said: “Valerie vigorously denies these allegations, which are vindictive and defamatory, and is committed to tackling bullying and harassment in Westminster.”
A party spokesman said: “The Labour Party’s complaints procedures are confidential so we cannot comment on individual complaints.”
The Speaker of the House of Commons, a Conservative politician with strong views on Brexit, is accused of presiding over an endemic culture of bullying and intimidation at the Palace of Westminster. More than that, an independent inquiry, conducted by a former High Court judge, finds that enough evidence exists of the Speaker’s failure to do anything about this appalling state of affairs that it is possible to conclude he must depart before reforms can be made. In addition, it is alleged by some who have worked alongside the Speaker, including his former secretary, that he has mistreated staff, leading them to resign.
The Conservative politician is John Bercow; and his views on the UK leaving the EU are so hostile that he affixed a sticker reading “Bollocks to Brexit – it’s not a done deal” to his car window. Had he been in favour of Brexit – or even neutral, as the Speaker is supposed to be – his feet would not have touched the ground.
The same politicians who routinely denounce powerful men who bully subordinate staff, and especially women, would have demanded his immediate suspension and eventual ejection from office. Yet far from being forced to step down, he is being protected by a group of Labour MPS who have cynically calculated that he will be vital to the fate of Brexit should the Commons reject Theresa May’s deal with the EU.
Margaret Beckett, the former foreign secretary, said that while “abuse is terrible and shouldn’t happen” it was trumped by the need to keep Mr Bercow in post “for the constitutional future of the country”. Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, concurred, saying now was “not the time to be changing the Speaker”.
Can anyone imagine them saying this if the Speaker held pro-brexit views? The stench of hypocrisy is overwhelming. Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said Mr Bercow could be relied upon to “drive through a Brexit that is tolerable” which indicates the agenda that is now in play.
How does this differ from what was seen recently in America with the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, when Republicans were accused of turning a blind eye to accusations of his past sexual misdemeanours? Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has let it be known that he considers it wrong to “confuse” the bullying allegations and Brexit. But he has not called for Mr Bercow’s resignation. Why not?