Speaker grants debate on bullying amid calls to quit

Speaker John Bercow has granted an urgent question on bullying in the Commons as calls for him to quit his role intensified in the wake of a damning probe.

Senior Conservative and Labour figures, along with a former top parliamentary official, said it was time for Mr Bercow to step down. It follows an investigation by a High Court judge that found a culture of “deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence” had allowed the mistreatment of staff in the House of Commons to thrive.

Mr Bercow has also faced claims – strongly denied – he bullied two former officials. He granted a request from Labour MP John Mann calling for Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom to make a statement on the findings of the review by Dame Laura Cox QC.

Conservative Maria Miller, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee, and the outgoing Standards Committee chairman, Labour’s Sir Kevin Barron, said the Speaker must quit.

But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry faced criticism after throwing her support behind Mr Bercow. She told Sky News: “I think this is absolutely not the time to be changing Speaker. We don’t know, for example, with regard to Brexit, as to what is going to happen.

“Whether there is going to be, technically, an amendable motion, or not. Whether it will be the Speaker’s discretion as to whether it is.We do need to have all hands to the deck at the moment.

“I don’t work with him on a day-to-day basis, but people who I know and respect do, and they say that he is a fine Speaker.”

The comments prompted a furious response from the general secretary of the FDA, which represents senior civil servants. Dave Penman said: “Completely disingenuous from @EmilyThornberry. Just last month, you were speaking at the TUC 150th Anniversary dinner about workers’ rights.

“Now you’re happy to ignore Dame Laura Cox’s urgent calls and put party politics before people. Which side are you on?”

In her report, Dame Laura said it was “difficult to envisage” how the reforms needed could be delivered under the current senior House administration.

She called for the establishment of an “entirely independent process” for dealing with staff complaints against MPs in which MPs themselves play no part.

Former Tory minister Mrs Miller said the report showed that “bullying and harassment is coming right from the top” and it is not right for Mr Bercow to oversee reform.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “the legitimacy of the House of Commons is undermined by having this sort of behaviour and culture prevail”.

She said: “The report is incredibly powerful and clear that what is the root problem here is that the bullying and harassment is coming right from the top.”

Asked if this meant Mr Bercow should resign, she said: “Absolutely.”