Brexit nemesis and former speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow reacted furiously to an Independent Expert Panel report that labelled him as a bully and a “serial liar” in a sizzling 800-word reply.
The longest-serving House of Commons speaker since the Second World War, John Bercow, has been called a “serial bully” and “serial liar” by the House of Common’s Independent Expert Panel report into workplace bullying and recommending he should never be “never be permitted a pass to the parliamentary estate”. The report has been forcefully rejected by Bercow himself in a bumper 800-word rebuttal, inside which he branded the findings a “travesty of justice [which] brings shame on the House of Commons”.
Bercow, who was in office as speaker from 2009-2019, had been accused by his former private secretary, Angus Sinclair, of swearing at him and being physically intimidating. Bercow’s replacement private secretary, Kate Emms, has also claimed that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder less than a year after taking up the position, alongside multiple other staff and colleague allegations against him — including throwing phones at staff on two occasions — all of which Bercow denied.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone found that Bercow had engaged in “intimidatory”, “undermining”, and “insulting” behaviour “involving an abuse of power” as well as “threatening conduct” towards Parlimanetary staff, including having “shouted at and mimicked” a member of staff, the BBC reports.
Bercow had appealed the findings of the report but ultimately the Panel upheld all 21 findings. In all, the Panel said, “his behaviour fell very far below that which the public has a right to expect” and had he still been a sitting MP, Bercow would now be expelled.
Among the phrases issued in Bercow’s considerable 800-word self-defence mounted in a statement seen by Breitbart London today, the former speaker said the investigation was:
… a travesty of justice… amateurish… tittle tattle and malicious gossip… reactionary and prejudiced ‘old guard’… rubber stamp… ghastly… Establishment spin… based on the flimsiest of evidence, rooted in hearsay and baseless rumour, and advanced by old school dogmatists once intent on resisting change at all costs… protracted, amateurish and unjust… a kangaroo court… shambolic… a disgrace… cowardly… a blatant stitch up and beneath contempt.
The former MP, who defected from the Conservative Party to Labour in 2021 after leaving the house in 2019 insisted that even if he was banned from holding a Parliamentary pass, he can “still attend debates with the help of a friendly passholder or go as a member of the public”.
He has now been administratively suspended from the Labour Party following the report and pending their own investigation, GB News reports.
Bercow, perhaps best known to international audiences for viral clips of him bellowing “order” from his Commons char, attempted to justify his alleged aggressive behaviour by saying it was as a result of frustration over liberal causes such as “slow progress on staff diversity”, and “showing irritation at delays in obtaining a licence for civil partnership ceremonies”.
The former speaker claimed the case against him was a “vengeful vendetta” mounted against him and that it “would have been thrown out by any court in the land since it is based on the flimsiest of evidence, rooted in hearsay and baseless rumour, and advanced by old school dogmatists once intent on resisting change at all costs and now settling some ancient scores with me”.
The ancient scores Bercow references could be how many viewed him as having repeatedly acted in a partisan manner during his tenure as speaker where he was meant to be politically neutral and had been accused of “endangering” the future of the speaker’s office at the time.
From his appointment in 2009, Bercow radically changed Parliament, bringing in new rules such as proxy voting for pregnant MPs, allowing small children into the voting lobby, sending the speaker’s 16th-century horse-drawn state coach to a museum, as well as abandoning the speaker’s traditional court dress. Bercow made a small nod to his cherished causes in his official coat of arms, which featured rainbow colours, pink triangles, and a ladder with the motto “we are all equal”.
The main grievance many Conservative parliamentarians had with Bercow was his interference in the Brexit process, being accused of attempting at every effort to frustrate negotiations and movements to implement the British people’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union.
Despite holding a neutral office, Bercow blocked votes on amendments on bills in favour of Britain’s Brexit decision and instead prioritised votes on amendments that were tabled from Remainer MPs, and even held talks with the President of the European Parliament — David Sassoli — to discuss how to prevent Britain from leaving the European Union during Brexit negotiations.
After leaving office, Bercow admitted that he had a “handmaiden role” in assisting Remainers in preventing a no-deal Brexit, which majorly frustrated Britain’s negotiating efforts with the European Union.
Bercow was praised upon his departure from the House of Commons in 2019 by the Remainer lobby.
Former leader of the Labour Party and MP Jeremy Corbyn had claimed that “this Parliament… this democracy is stronger for your being the Speaker”.
The ardent Remainer, former MP and ex-Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson said that Bercow was “one of the great Speakers”.
Jo Swinson former head of the hardcore Remainer Liberal Democrat party called Bercow a “truly modernising speaker”.
Labour MP David Lammy thanked Bercow for putting minorities in Britain at “the centre of the action in this parliament”, and called him an “inter-galactic hero”.
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