Bercow in ‘kangaroo court’ blast after bully probe says he’s guilty
JOHN BERCOW launched an extraordinary attack on the ‘kangaroo court’ of Westminster last night amid reports a Parliamentary inquiry had found him guilty of bullying.
The former Speaker branded the verdict ‘unjust’ and ‘amateurish’, and has launched an appeal to overturn it.
He reportedly said: ‘To call it a kangaroo court is unfair to kangaroos.’
The Mail on Sunday revealed last summer that Mr Bercow was understood to be facing an inquiry into his conduct while an MP and threatening a judicial review into the process.
Last night, there were reports that Commons Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone had judged him guilty on 21 out of 35 complaints brought by exCommons Clerk Lord Lisvane and private secretaries Kate Emms and Angus Sinclair.
Two claims from LieutenantGeneral David Leakey, who as Black Rod was the Lords’ senior official, were rejected by the 18-month inquiry, The Sunday Times reported.
But Mr Bercow, who stood down as Speaker and as an MP in 2019, called the verdict ‘unjust’ and the result of an ‘amateurish process’ including ‘hearsay’ evidence.
The ex-Speaker said he was ‘wrongly’ alleged to have thrown a mobile phone on two occasions nearly 12 years ago. ‘In both cases, the people said to have been present at the time were interviewed and they refuted the allegation.’
But Mr Bercow told The Sunday Times that ‘this inconvenient fact was brushed aside in favour of two “witnesses” who were not present but who claimed that they had been told of the incidents.’
He also claimed that in seven cases, investigators found him innocent only for Ms Stone to reverse the decision.
Mr Bercow, 58, has appealed against Ms Stone’s ruling. If the verdict is upheld, he could be banned from Parliament for life or face a censure motion.
Commons Standards Committee Chairman Chris Bryant said Mr Bercow made similar claims over the inquiry that found ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson guilty of breaching lobbying rules. Mr Bryant, usually an ally of Mr Bercow, said: ‘The House is determined to change its culture and nobody is above the rules.’