OT: John Bercow the bully?

Always knew he was a prick!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60660385

Ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow was a serial bully, says report

ohn Bercow was a "serial bully" while House of Commons Speaker and should not be given a parliamentary pass, a report has said.

The Independent Expert Panel said "his behaviour fell very far below that which the public has a right to expect" from an MP.

It also said he had displayed "undermining behaviour" towards staff.

However, Mr Bercow said the inquiry into the complaints was "amateurish" and based on "tittle tattle".

Mr Bercow was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019 and presided over a turbulent period during which the House of Commons debated the UK's exit from the European Union.

Bercow 'categorically' denies bullying allegations
Formal complaint lodged against John Bercow
Who is John Bercow?
A report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone found that Mr Bercow had displayed "intimidatory" and "undermining behaviour", and "threatening conduct" towards staff, including verbal abuse, and displays of anger.

It said he had "shouted at and mimicked" a member of staff and was responsible for "intimidating, insulting behaviour involving an abuse of power".

She also found he had subjected Lord Lisvane - a senior clerk in the House of Commons - to "repeated unfounded criticism… often made at length and at volume and included derogatory inferences about [his] upbringing and background".

Mr Bercow appealed but the Independent Expert Panel upheld the findings of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

'Spite'
The panel said it agreed with the commissioner's findings that Mr Bercow had been "a serial bully".

It added that Mr Bercow's conduct "was so serious that, had he still been a Member of Parliament, we would have determined that he should be expelled by resolution of the House".

However, in a strongly-worded statement Mr Bercow called the report "a travesty of justice rooted in prejudice, spite and hearsay".

He said claims of misconduct were "upheld even when eyewitnesses testified that they had not taken place".

He also argued he had been "targeted by three disgruntled former staffers because he had set out to be a reforming figure prepared to set aside custom and practice in the pursuit of a more radical agenda intended to make the Commons more inclusive and diverse".

One of the complainants, Kate Emms, said: "I am supremely glad to be vindicated by the report of the Independent Expert Panel."

She said her time working for Mr Bercow had been "the one and only genuinely horrible, undermining and consistently upsetting period of my career" which had led to "stress, anxiety and a loss of confidence".

She said Mr Bercow had failed to show remorse and had instead "blamed the process for being flawed, amateurish and unjust and not even applicable to him".


During his decade-long stint as Speaker, Mr Bercow made several changes to Parliament to fulfil his aim to make the House of Commons "less stuffy".

For example, he allowed MPs to speak in the chamber without wearing ties, and removed the requirement for clerks to wear wigs.

He won praise from some MPs for giving backbenchers more opportunities to question ministers.

However, his style drew criticisms from others, and some Conservatives accused him of bias, breaching the requirement that the Speaker stays neutral.

During the fierce Brexit debates, Mr Bercow gained international recognition for his attempts to control Parliament, particularly his loud cries of "order order".

He also bent parliament rules to suit his political affiliation...... nasty man so far up his own arse he could see light at other end.

Horrible little self-opiniated poisen dwarf who has a giant wife who looks a bit like a man and had an affair with his cousin.

Horrible little self-opiniated poisen dwarf who has a giant wife who looks a bit like a man and had an affair with his cousin.

And a pikey affair too