It is much more than a reminder. John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons for ten years who bowed out in 2019, distinguished himself during the endless debates on Brexit with his theatrical interventions.
Following his departure, he was accused of having bullied his teams to the point of harassment and today sees his image tarnished by a group of independent experts from Parliament.
Mr Bercow, 59, was “a serial stalker” and one “serial liar”wrote, Tuesday, March 8, this panel of experts responsible for investigating these accusations and which relied on the testimonies of three former collaborators. “Like many bullies, he had his favorites and those who were his victims”draws up this report which confirms a previous parliamentary inquiry into the subject.
“His behavior was so serious that if he was still a Member of Parliament we would have concluded that he should be expelled. We suggest that he no longer has the right to his access card to Parliament”say the experts.
Mr. Bercow called the report a “parody of justice and [de] Shame on the House of Commons”. According to him, the parliamentary report is the result of a “protracted, amateurish and unfair process that would not have survived a five-minute scrutiny in court”. “Describe what I experienced as a kangaroo court [dans les pays anglophones, l’expression kangaroo court (ou kangaroo tribunal) désigne de façon ironique un tribunal autoproclamé, une parodie de justice] is a gross insult to kangaroos”he added.
Celebrity of his “orders”
Even if his access pass is withdrawn, the former Conservative MP, whose “Orders! » resounding to rowdy MEPs had toured the world, will still be able to enter Parliament as a guest or member of the public.
Coming from a modest background, this MP has been a thorn in the side of successive Conservative governments. David Cameron had even tried to oust him, in vain. Twice in 2019, he refused votes to Theresa May and Boris Johnson on their Brexit agreements, under the principle that the same text could not be debated several times, attracting accusations of bias in his camp .
He also drew criticism from Tories for speaking out against Donald Trump speaking in parliament during a visit by the President of the United States in 2018 and was criticized for demanding thousands of pounds for renovate his company apartment. Last year, he announced that he was leaving the Conservative Party, judged “xenophobic”, and had called Mr Johnson a ” bad “.