Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019 Page
QQQtheorist Erskine May (who died in
1886) to bolster his case to sabo-
tage the EU referendum result.
As a proud expert on parliamen-
tary history, surely Bercow knows
that proroguing Parliament is a
normal part of the process of gov-
ernment. It happens almost every
year. The difference this time is
that the prorogation will last longer
than normal and will happen at a
tortuous time politically.
Bercow’s ‘outrage’ might have
been more convincing were it not
for his long record of interpreting
parliamentary rules and conven-
tions in ways that favour the
Remain side. In January, he defied
convention and overruled his offi-
cials by allowing a vote on an
amendment which forced Prime
Minister Theresa May to present
an EU Withdrawal Bill ‘Plan B’ to
MPs after they rejected her deal.
B
ERcoW admitted he had
flouted precedent, adding: ‘If
we were guided only by prec-
edent, manifestly nothing in
our procedures would ever change...
I have made an honest judgment.’
He later prevented MPs from vot-
ing on a Brexiteer amendment
which specifically ruled out a sec-
ond referendum – even though it
had been signed by 127 MPs.
In March, when Mrs May was
desperately trying to get her Bill
through the commons at the third
attempt, Bercow, seeking to block
the vote, was a stickler for prece-
dent. He ruled that MPs could not
vote on the motion because it was
substantially unchanged.
His justification was a convention
dating to 1604, which, he said, had
been used a dozen times – though
not since 1920. clearly, Bercow’s
contradictory view of historical
precedence is based on what he
feels can be employed most hand-
ily to thwart Brexit.
His bias has shown up several
times, too, in the Speaker’s choice
of amendments to select for
debate. In March he chose two
motions that, if passed, would have
allowed MPs to seize control of the
business of the commons (both
were rejected). He blocked another
that would have allowed MPs to
rule out a second referendum.
The fact is that a debate with a
partisan moderator is not a true
debate. As for his claim about pro-
rogation being an outrage, Tory MP
Philip Hollobone pointed out that
as PM, Tony Blair regularly pro-
rogued Parliament for 12 weeks.
His former colleague Stewart
Jackson observed with irony that
it seemed fine for ‘Remain back-
benchers with no mandate take
control of legislation to work withBercow to block voters’ on Brexit
but that it was an ‘outrage’ to
follow precedent and rules to
prorogue Parliament ahead of a
new government’s legislative pro-
gramme. ‘Hypocrites,’ he added.
Sir christopher Meyer, our former
ambassador to the US, tartly com-
mented that it was ‘time for Ber-
cow to keep quiet and keep out’.
The Speaker says he has always
sought to ‘champion the rights of
members wishing to put their par-
ticular point of view’. He insists: ‘I
have always been scrupulously fair
to Brexiteers and Remainers
alike... That has been the case, is
the case and will continue to be
the case.’ However, Bercow – oncea Right-wing conservative but now
a liberal – has shown no qualms in
advertising his views, reportedly
telling students at Reading in 2017:
‘I voted to Remain.’ This summer,
he travelled to the Edinburgh Fes-
tival Fringe to tell an audience he
would ‘fight with every breath in
my body’ to stop the Prime Minis-
ter proroguing Parliament.
Surely the correct place for such
a remark, if at all, would have been
the Speaker’s chair. It should not
have been delivered to an ardently
Remain audience at an arts festi-
val in a country where the majority
voted Remain. At the same event,
Bercow was asked if MPs would be
able to stop a No Deal Brexit.Rather than decline to answer, he
replied with an enthusiastic: ‘Yes!’
MPs have condemned the
Speaker for staying in his job more
than a year beyond his self-declared
retirement date. So is it any sur-
prise when he so brazenly makes
clear his views? Tory MP Peter Bone
said: ‘Bercow no longer sounds like
a referee – he sounds like he is play-
ing for one of the teams.’
The truth is that John Bercow’s
behaviour shows that he is not an
independent defender of the Brit-
ish constitution. He is a partisan
figure who has exploited his office
to arrogantly wield the political
power that eluded him during the
years he spent as a backbencher.As Speaker slams Johnson for ‘constitutional outrage’...
COMMENTARY
By Daniel Martin
and Ross Clark
J
oHN Bercow called the
suspension of Parliament a ‘con-
stitutional outrage’ and an
‘offence against the democratic
process’. But pro-Brexit MPsaccused him of hypocrisy last night
as he has openly admitted breaking
convention by aiding the Remain
case in the commons.
Rather than being an impartial figure,
as tradition dictates, Bercow has sided
with the Government’s opponents.
He helped facilitate the defeat of Theresa
May’s Withdrawal Agreement and he pre-
vented MPs from voting on an amendment to
rule out a second referendum.
Interrupting his holiday yesterday, Bercow
issued a statement saying: ‘However it is
dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the
purpose of prorogation now would be to stop
Parliament debating Brexit and performing
its duty in shaping a course for the country.
‘At this time, one of the most challenging
periods in our nation’s history, it is vital that
our elected Parliament has its say. After all,
we live in a parliamentary democracy.
‘The Prime Minister should be seeking to
establish rather than undermine his demo-
cratic credentials and indeed his commit-
ment to parliamentary democracy.’
According to Parliament’s website: ‘The
Speaker is the chief officer and highest
authority of the House of commons and must
remain politically impartial at all times.’
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘He’s a
Speaker who has ripped every page about
impartiality out of the Speaker’s rule book. It
is hypocritical. He’s showing what an arch-
Remainer he is.’ Bercow’s critics say he’s on a
one-man mission to destroy Brexit – he was
spotted driving a car with a sticker saying
‘B**s to Brexit’ (Bercow told MPs the car
belonged to his wife). He used constitutional
THE REAL SCANDAL,
BERCOW? HOW YOU
RIPPED UP THE RULES
Out of order?
John Bercow,
right, clashes
with Tory MPs in
the Commons