Bercow pleads for ‘personal courtesy’ in politics in alternative Christmas message
JOHN BERCOW has called for a return to “personal courtesy” in politics in an Alternative Christmas Message to be broadcast by Channel 4.
The former House of Commons Speaker, who faced accusations of anti- Brexit bias during his time in office, calls for civility and says “democracy has come in for a pounding”.
Mr Bercow, who stepped down in October after a decade in the chair, says: “I passionately support parliamentary democracy. For all the criti- cism and abuse lobbed at MPS, I’m still a cheerleader for them.”
Speaking from a classroom at his children’s state secondary school, he calls for the nation to “take inspiration from young people” and “try to re-establish a civility of discourse”.
“It would be good for Parliament, for democracy and for our own mental health,” he says. “This Christmas, I urge that ... personal courtesy should become our guiding lights in 2020, in the Commons, in our workplaces and in our homes.”
Mr Bercow, known for his shouts of
“order, order” in the chamber, says “democracy shouldn’t be about decibel levels”, adding that an “opinion is no more valid because it is expressed more loudly, repeatedly or abusively”.
The Alternative Christmas Message will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 2.25pm. A fixture on Channel 4 since 1993, it has been delivered in the past by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president, Edward Snowden, the US National Security Agency whistleblower, and Danny Dyer, the English actor.
In a recent speech to the Foreign Press Association, Mr Bercow described Brexit as the “biggest mistake” the UK has made in modern times.
Meanwhile, in an interview last month, he said he played a “handmaiden role” and “facilitated” Parliament’s push to delay the UK’S departure beyond Oct 31.
He said he was “not annoyed” by accusations of not being impartial, but that he has been “to some degree annoyed by allegations of bullying. I have simply rebutted them. There is nothing more I can say. I have never bullied anyone and I don’t accept that for one moment.”