Despite being found to be a “serial bully” and “liar” in a Parliamentary investigation, former House of Commons speaker John Bercow has managed to keep his honorary university positions and accolades.
Bercow — who the House of Common’s Independent Expert Panel recommended should “never be permitted a pass to the parliamentary estate” — has so far managed to keep his honorary position as professor of politics at Manchester University and at Royal Holloway University, as well as the role of Fellow of Birkbeck University.
The now-disgraced former House of Commons speaker was administratively suspended from the Labour Party, following the Parliamentary investigations, and Labour has announced they are conducting their own investigation into Bercow — who defected from the Conservatives to the socialist Labour Party after his retirement.
Neither Royal Holloway nor Birkbeck, where Bercow still holds positions, have announced any such investigation into the former Member of Parliament — who would have been ejected from the Commons if he was still an MP — despite allegations that Bercow had abused parliamentary staff on 21 occasions, which included being “physically intimidating” and smashing a phone on a desk so hard that pieces hit a staff member.
The University of Manchester, on the other hand, told Breitbart London that they are “aware of the matter” and would be “taking appropriate action internally as a matter of urgency”.
“The University does not condone bullying or harassment in any form. We won’t be commenting any further at this time,” they added.
After being contacted by Breitbart London, Royal Holloway University reaffirmed their decision to stand by Bercow, stating that even though they “are aware of the outcome of the Independent Expert Panel” Bercow would not be removed from his position due to his being “transparent” about the investigation and having “positive feedback” from students “who value the insight they gain from his extensive experience and knowledge of British politics”.
Holloway’s spokesman did however highlight that they have a “robust reporting mechanism” where students or staff are free to “raise concerns” or complaints, claiming that if they received a complaint about Bercow they “would take immediate action”.
The University of Birkbeck told The Telegraph that Bercow — who bullied three Commons staffers — had been an “advocate of our world-leading research into the ways in which babies and toddlers learn and develop”. Royal Holloway also stood by their decision of giving him an honorary role.
The University of Essex — where Bercow had resigned from being Chancellor during the investigation in November 2021 — was quick to call Breitbart and inform the team that Bercow no longer had a role at the university.
The University of Bedfordshire — where Bercow had also previously been appointed as Chancellor –– were also prompt in confirming to Breitbart London that “John Bercow has not been a member of the university for quite some time”.
Caroline Johnson, a Conservative MP who sits on the education select committee, said that she feels the universities should reconsider Bercow’s positions as they shouldn’t risk “staff or students to be bullied nor to be seen to back someone found to have been a serial bully”.
Bercow has branded the allegations against him as a “vengeful vendetta” that “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”.
Paradoxically, Becow referred to Parliament, which upheld the allegations against him, as “the highest court in the land” in the same statement.
The alleged “ancient scores” the ex-Speaker referred to range from his decision to make his official parliamentary coat of arms to feature rainbow colours, pink triangles, and a ladder with the motto “we are all equal” to seemingly attempting to frustrate the Brexit process from the office of the Speaker, which is meant to be politically neutral.
Upon leaving his role as Speaker, Bercow admitted that he had a “handmaiden role” in assisting Remainers in preventing a no-deal Brexit, which majorly weakened Britain’s negotiating position with the European Union.