Bercow admits calling Leadsom ‘stupid’ but refuses to apologise

JOHN BERCOW appeared to admit calling Andrea Leadsom “stupid” last night but refused to apologise to her, in a move that has intensified calls for him to resign as the Commons Speaker.

Mr Bercow last night admitted making the remark under his breath during an extraordinary tirade last week after Prime Minister’s Questions.

But to the anger of Tory backbenchers, he appeared to justify the remarks, telling MPS that it “simply summed up how I felt about the way that day’s business had been conducted”. He failed to comment on allegations that he called Mrs Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons, “f------ useless”.

In an apparent about-turn, his office later claimed that he had not admitted singling out Mrs Leadsom, adding that he had been referring to his general frustration at the Government front- bench. When asked why this had not been made clear when The Telegraph approached Mr Bercow last week, his spokesman declined to comment.

It comes after this newspaper revealed that Mr Bercow had been caught muttering the remarks by an MP, who called the incident “outrageous”.

It later emerged that Mr Bercow allegedly called Mrs Leadsom a “liar” when she confronted him. Allies of Mrs Leadsom said that she had expected an apology and that if Mr Bercow was unwilling to issue one, several MPS were prepared to complain to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. But far from apologising, he appeared to dig his heels in last night, telling the House that if the Government objected to his approach, “then so be it”.

Mr Bercow is facing allegations, which he categorically denies, that he bullied two former members of staff.