Abbott’s Black Rod bullying claim shot down
Row comes as former clerk of the House says Bercow dismissed complaint by staff member against MP
‘Her comments are wrong. The fact that you are military does not mean that you can’t be bullied’
DIANE ABBOTT has been condemned by military and union leaders after she challenged the suggestion that John Bercow could have bullied a retired Army officer.
The shadow home secretary was yesterday forced to delete a Twitter post in which she dismissed as “unlikely” allegations levelled by David
Leakey, the former Black Rod. Her comments were criticised by a senior Labour official, who claimed her dismissal of bullying allegations showed “contempt for staff ”.
A claim has also emerged that Mr Bercow dismissed a complaint of bullying against an MP by saying he would not rely on the word of the alleged victim because she was only a “f-----clerk”, his former chief adviser alleged.
Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the House of Commons, said Mr Bercow made it “impossible” during his time as Speaker for staff to seek redress if they were ill-treated by MPS. Mr Bercow faces accusations that he bullied his own staff, and Lord Lisvane handed a dossier of allegations to the parliamentary standards watchdog last month.
The former speaker, who denies bullying, tried to turn the tables on Lord Lisvane by saying he had failed in his “duty of care” by not raising the cases with him at the time. But Lord Lisvane, who left his post in 2014, told The Times that it was “ludicrous” to suggest he could have acted at the time, because of Mr Bercow’s behaviour and the lack of a formal process for investigating such complaints.
He said: “The problem was exemplified by a complaint against an MP for bullying and harassing a young female clerk, who sadly left the House of Commons Service shortly thereafter.
“Mr Bercow … said he that he was not going to have the case proved ‘on the word of any f---ing clerk’. It’s not surprising that in such circumstances it was impossible to deal with bullying by MPS.” Mr
Bercow told The
Times:
“Lord Lisvane’s statement doesn’t accord with my recollection. I was concerned to ensure that there was an independent process and Acas – the independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service – was invited to attempt to resolve the matter. As I recall, Lord Lisvane was supportive of the approach.”
Ms Abbott’s dressing down came when she suggested that Mr Leakey’s distinguished military career meant he was impervious to being bullied. She wrote on Twitter: “He had been a Lieutenant General who served in Germany, Northern Ireland and Bosnia, but claims he was bullied (ie, intimidated and coerced) by John Bercow. Unlikely.”
Last night,
Admiral Lord West of Spithead, the former first sea lord, told The Daily Telegraph Ms Abbott’s comments were “clearly wrong”, adding: “The fact that you’re military doesn’t mean that you can’t be bullied.”
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn appeared to distance him from Ms Abbott, telling reporters: “All allegations of bullying and harassment should always be taken seriously and investigated. I’m sure Diane agrees with that.”
Mr Leakey, a lieutenant general before being appointed to the ceremonial role, has recently alleged that Mr Bercow “brutalised” staff while serving as the Commons Speaker.
The 67-year-old has said that while he was not personally intimidated by Mr Bercow, who denies the allegations, he had chosen to speak out because he believed him to be unsuitable for a peerage. Mr Bercow told Sky News that Mr Leakey was “in absolutely no position to comment on my relations with my parliamentary colleagues, of which he is completely and utterly ignorant”. “He doesn’t know what my relations were with my clerks. He has absolutely no intelligence on those matters whatsoever,” he added.