Bercow must quit – or all hell will break loose
As ex-colleague tells of Speaker’s ‘legendary’ rages, an MP warns:
JOHN Bercow faced the threat of a Commons revolt last night after fresh allegations emerged about his ‘intolerable’ rudeness and ‘legendary’ rages.
The Speaker was told he would provoke ‘civil unrest’ in the House unless he quit within 49 days – hav-ing previously insisted he would only serve a maximum of nine years.
A senior backbencher said ‘all hell would break loose’ if Mr Bercow did not honour the pledge, which he made upon his election. The deadline comes up on June 22. The ultimatum came as one of Parliament’s most senior officials accused the Speaker of ‘legendary, objectionable’ behaviour that made him ‘unworthy’ of public office.
David Leakey, who retired in 2017 after seven years as Black Rod, said in an interview that people were ‘terrified’ of the Speaker. His comments increase the pressure on Mr Bercow, who is already facing bullying allegations from two former members of his office staff, which he strenuously denies.
Mr Bercow stood for election as Speaker on June 22, 2009 after prede-cessor Michael Martin was forced to resign in the wake of the expenses scandal. In his manifesto, he wrote: ‘As a matter of principle, I believe strongly that the post of Speaker should not be a job for life.
‘If you do me the honour of electing me, I will serve for no longer than two full Parliaments and, in any event, for no more than nine years in total. Any Speaker should be able to make a mark in that time and his or her successor should then be elected by experienced MPs in the existing Parliament before a general election.’
Last night one senior back-bencher, a former minister, told the Mail: ‘He clearly needs to stand down before June 22.
‘He needs to make his announce-ment now, and if he doesn’t all hell’s going to break loose. There will be civil unrest in the chamber. Members of Parliament are count-ing down the days.’
Former Tory MP Rob Wilson said ‘time is almost up’ for Mr Bercow. ‘He would be wise to leave now, as the allegations and evidence are expanding,’ he said. ‘Soon, leaving may no longer be his decision.’
In his interview with the website PoliticsHome, Mr Leakey said: ‘His explosive and intemperate behaviour is legendary, objection-able and unworthy of someone in such public office. There were lots of people who were, frankly, terri-fied of the Speaker.’
The former Black Rod accused Mr Bercow of making ‘intolerable’ personal insults and said the bul-lying claims risk bringing Parlia-ment into disrepute. ‘For Parlia- ment not to investigate rigorously sets a poor example,’ he said. ‘This can no longer be simply swept under the carpet. He has spoken out strongly against the culture of bullying in Parliament, and this just seems to reek of hypocrisy.’
A spokesman for Mr Bercow said: ‘Mr Speaker refutes all the allegations levelled by Mr Leakey. John Bercow and David Leakey had fundamental disagreements in 2011 and 2012, but interacted adequately after that.’
Mr Bercow is already facing calls to quit following bullying allega-tions from former private secre-taries Angus Sinclair and Kate Emms. Mr Sinclair, from Moffat, Dumfriesshire, left his post in 2010 after receiving a payment of £86,250 and signing a gagging order – an order he broke on Tues-day night by speaking to News-night. He claimed he was the vic-tim of angry outbursts, foul-mouthed tirades and mimicry from Mr Bercow.
Dame Laura Cox QC is already conducting an inquiry into claims of bullying by MPs. But its remit does not extend to looking at his-torical cases, including allegations against Mr Bercow.
A spokesman for the Speaker’s office said last night: ‘The Speaker was elected in 2017 for the course of the Parliament. In the event he has anything to say on his future plans, he will make an announce-ment to the House first.’ THE Lords could defy John Ber-cow and give Donald Trump the honour of a speech at Parliament when the president visits Britain.
The Speaker has vowed to deny Mr Trump permission to give a speech in Westminster Hall but peers are urging the Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, to offer the use of the Royal Gallery in the Lords – either during Mr Trump’s working trip in July or on a future State visit.
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