Brexit news latest: Commons speaker John Bercow insists he is not biased against Brexiteers

John Bercow in the Commons on Wednesday night
AFP/Getty Images
James Morris28 March 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Commons speaker John Bercow has denied being biased in Parliament and says he believes it is important "to give a voice to minorities".

In a wide-ranging interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Mr Bercow insisted he is "simply fair".

He added he has "consistently" shown his desire to hear all views on an issue including during the Brexit process.

In the interview, he said: "There was a time when Europhiles, pro-Europeans, used to criticise me years ago for selecting urgent questions from Brexit supporters when they were in a minority.

John Bercow and Andrea Leadsom clash in Commons row

"And now the Brexit supporters criticise me for choosing questions or amendments from Remainers. So in other words, at different times, I've upset both sides.

"And like most Speakers, I think it's important to give a voice to minorities in the House, not just to the Government view or the majority view, but to the minority of the dissident view."

Declaring he is "impartial in Parliament but... not impartial about Parliament", he added: "If I'm biased, I'm biased in favour of Parliament. Parliament being heard. Parliament having a right to speak. Parliament having time. Parliament being respected by the Government of the day and indeed by the opposition."

Earlier this month, Mr Bercow's ruling over another vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal earned him the title of "The Brexit Destroyer" in some parts of the press, along with a suggestion that he had potentially triggered a constitutional crisis.

John Bercow: Government cannot hold another Meaningful Vote unless it is substantially different

He told the paper he was optimistic for the future of Britain, despite the current deadlock, and said British people showed resilience in times of crisis.

Elected as the 157th Speaker of the House of Commons in June 2009, Mr Bercow has become known for his caustic parliamentary put-downs.

Earlier this week, he sparked uproar in the Commons by aiming an "insult" at a Conservative MP.

The Speaker remarked that former minister Greg Hands "wasn't a very good whip" as he admonished the MP for Chelsea and Fulham for "disorderly" behaviour.

Mr Bercow insisted his actions in the Commons were not a performance.

"What you see is what you get," he added.

"I think that it is better to try to handle things with a degree of humour, if possible, rather than everything being deadly serious," he said.

Reporting by Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in