Bercow on the brink
Ministers could get free vote to oust him after boast about backing Remain sparks outrage
JOHN Bercow suffered a serious blow to his future as Speaker last night, after Theresa May freed ministers to support attempts to unseat him in the Commons.
A senior Tory source said ministers would be given free rein if rebel MPs succeed in forcing a vote of no confidence in Mr Bercow in the coming weeks.
And Commons leader David Lidington made it clear that it would not be enough for Mr Bercow to simply win that vote with the support of opposition MPs. Mr Lidington said the Speaker also had to demonstrate he had ‘cross-party authority’ in order to continue.
Mr Bercow has faced mounting calls to resign following his extraordinary attack on Donald Trump last week.
In an unprecedented outburst, the Speaker accused the US President of ‘racism and sexism’ and effectively banned him from making a joint address to Parliament in Westminster Hall when he visits the UK this summer.
He further angered Tory MPs yesterday when, despite his duty of impartiality, it emerged he had boasted of backing Remain in the EU referendum, accused Brexit campaigners of telling ‘untruths’, and called for a raft of EU regulations to continue after the UK leaves the EU. Mr Bercow made the anti-Brexit comments during a talk to students at Reading University earlier this month.
Former Tory minister James Duddridge took the rare step last week of tabling a Commons motion expressing ‘no confidence’ in Mr Bercow – effectively a declaration of war against the Speaker.
The Government had been expected to sit out the row and order ministers to abstain in any vote on Mr Bercow’s future. Downing Street said it was
‘As a matter of honour, he’d have to resign’
‘an issue for Parliament’. But a senior Tory source said all MPs, including ministers and their Parliamentary aides, would now get a free vote – increasing the number of MPs likely to oppose him.
The source said ministers would ‘not be whipped one way or another’, adding: ‘ This is purely for MPs to do as they wish.’
Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke last night welcomed the move, saying many ministers were angry about Mr Bercow’s ‘ rudeness’ and perceived anti-Tory bias. Mr Shelbrooke said: ‘It doesn’t surprise me because there are so many ministers who have been treated rudely by Mr Bercow at the despatch box – they won’t want to sit on their hands. It means that even if he were to win a vote it would be on the record that he is opposed by a substantial number of MPs on one side, including ministers – as a matter of honour he would have to resign.’
Mr Lidington, who is in charge of the Government’s business in the Lords, made no effort to defend Mr Bercow during a round of broadcast interviews yesterday.
The Cabinet minister said there would be a ‘strong reaction amongst some MPs’ to his pro-EU comments ‘particularly after what he said about the proposed State visit earlier in the week’.
A spokesman for Mr Bercow yesterday said his referendum vote had no impact on his handling of debates, adding: ‘Mr Bercow voted in the EU referendum, along with millions of others.
‘The record shows that he has rigorously facilitated the raising of concerns of those on both sides of this argument, as he does on every other issue.’
But Mr Duddridge said the comments were further evidence the Speaker is ‘no longer impartial’. He added he had been ‘amazed’ by the number of people to privately voice their support for his motion. Rebel MPs believe that the number of colleagues willing to publicly call for Mr Bercow to go was now ‘in double figures’.