Minister accuses Speaker of ‘demeaning’ women MPS
COMMONS Speaker John Bercow was at the centre of fresh controversy after a minister said MPS branded his behaviour towards her as “sexist and demeaning”.
Energy Minister Claire Perry has written to the Speaker regarding a clash in the Commons, as she insisted “verbal violence” against women was unacceptable.
The minister said Mr Bercow had been “quite irascible” when telling her to give shorter answers to questions from MPS in Parliament on Tuesday.
Ms Perry said: “He does that quite a lot, often with women on the Government benches. He’s, obviously, called the Leader of the House of Commons a stupid woman.
“About a dozen colleagues from all sides of the House, men and women, approached me afterwards to say his behaviour was sexist and demeaning.
“And, I felt, that as the principal officer of our precious House of Commons, in any way, to give the impression, even if it’s not true, that he’s got a women problem in a time when attacks on women, when verbal violence towards women, is completely unacceptable, is wrong.”
The minister said Mr Bercow had a history of demeaning women MPS.
“I think the way that he speaks, particularly to female MPS, particularly on the Government benches, is demeaning,” she said.
“The tone and the language he used, referring to me ‘dilating on the front benches’ was quite extraordinary.
“I had one colleague from another party, whose daughter has just suffered a stillbirth, who said she was absolutely horrified that he used that language.
“When we see sexist and bullying behaviour, whether it’s from movie stars, or leaders of the House, or whatever it is, we have to stand up and call it out, and that’s what I’m doing today.”
In response to Ms Perry’s letter, Mr Bercow suggested the pair met for a cup of tea.
He wrote: “While, respectfully, I do not accept the points made, perhaps it would be nice to meet for a ‘clear the air’ cup of tea?”
A spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Office said: “During question time yesterday, the Speaker was trying to move business along ahead of the much-anticipated debate on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
“He simply urged the minister to give a ‘brief answer - no dilation’. It is a term he has used many times.”