By Former Black Rod Lieutenant General David Leakey
Why is Jeremy Corbyn falling over himself to recommend that the former Commons Speaker, John ‘Bully’ Bercow, should now be made a Lord?
The man is quite unsuitable, so it’s not on or, to coin a phrase, it’s totally out of order, order!
As a high-profile public figure, Bercow set an appalling example as Speaker, not least in publicly humiliating MPs in the Commons Chamber – gleefully replayed on TV.
There are also serious unanswered questions about the eye-watering sums of public money frittered away on his watch, including his own excessive expense claims.
Not to mention those allegations of bullying staff that just won’t go away: yes, he denies them all vigorously, though I for one have experienced and can testify to his repeated abusive and insulting treatment of those who worked for him. It’s unforgivable.
Taken together, such conduct by a senior figure in any other organisation would almost certainly have led to an inquiry, an official warning or even the sack.
Of course, his defenders say, Bercow is a complex, colourful character, someone edgy but with undoubted pzazz. Yes, they admit, he loves the sound of his own voice and can’t help cloaking the simplest messages in ponderously pompous and longwinded windbaggery.
But give him credit too. He has championed some worthy causes and improvements in Parliament; he promoted the role of ordinary backbench MPs and improved old-fashioned working practices; he made Parliament more accessible; and TV viewing figures for the Commons Chamber have gone up.
That’s fine if you don’t mind that he turned a serious Parliament almost into a game show by his eccentric and self-centric style of presiding over the Commons.
But for me, all this is outweighed by the debit side: especially those unanswered questions about the huge sums of public money that were wasted on his watch.
More than £2million was paid to some 50 House of Commons staff over a five-year period as part of gagging clauses – ‘Non-Disclosure Agreements’ or NDAs.
That’s an average pay-off of £50,000 per person for keeping quiet/staying silent. Some people may even have walked away with £100,000! What could possibly justify these eye-watering pay-outs to as many as 50 members of staff at the Commons?
For protecting the confidentiality of Parliament’s commercial contracts? Really!?
Or for not squealing about abusive behaviour by MPs and even by Bercow himself, perhaps? And who authorised these payments? Was it Bercow, who chaired the powerful House of Commons Commission which oversees how the Commons is run? These are questions that clamour for answers if Bercow’s integrity is to be above suspicion.
But I’m a generous man so let’s ignore Bercow’s £1,000 taxi bill for a return trip to Nottingham to deliver a speech. Or the £7,000 price tag of a visit to the US last May where he delivered a speech, as Commons Speaker, insisting MPs could still block a No Deal Brexit – straying much too far into the minefield of partisan politics.
Add to all that those festering allegations of bullying and intimidating staff that have been public for much of his ten years as Speaker. Yet Bercow escaped investigation – protected by submissive or toadying opposition party leaders in the Commons who chose to turn a blind eye to the allegations.
But it may be only justice delayed; there is now a new grievance process in Parliament, and I understand that two serious complaints about Bercow’s conduct have already been submitted, or soon will be. There may be others and we should all appeal to those innocent Commons staff affected by Bercow’s oafish behaviour to come forward now: he can no longer hurt you or affect your career.
This misconduct was not just behind closed doors. Bercow’s imperious and humiliating treatment of MPs has been there to see on TV screens, even demeaning one MP by mimicking a speech impediment. Such conduct cannot be dismissed as colourful banter. It has often crossed the line but there was not even a slap on the wrist.
The last straw was the former Speaker’s Alternative Christmas Message on ITV, delivered with saintly mock-sincerity, decrying populism, promoting respect for one another and calling for “civility in discourse”. It was the height of Bercow’s pious hypocrisy and stuck in the throat – like Pontius Pilate advocating kindness and mercy to all small children in Bethlehem.
And last of all on the charge sheet: can we overlook complaints about Bercow’s blatant anti-Brexit bias as Speaker – even if you are a Remainer, as I am?
Bercow is surely guilty both for his one-sided mishandling of Brexit and his apparent lack of political neutrality in giving some opposition parties considerable political advantage? No surprise then that Jeremy Corbyn is shamelessly rewarding Bercow by trying to slip him into the House of Lords.
Bercow’s replacement as the new Commons Speaker is Sir Lindsay Hoyle, his former deputy. Sir Lindsay has already called for Bercow to be given the automatic peerage that has been a traditional prize for every Speaker for more than 200 years – no self-interest there, Sir Lindsay! Besides, the House of Lords’ own review on reforming the second chamber or ‘Upper House’ specifically recommends ending the practice of these automatic peerages. Let the Speakers be judged on merit – not just kicked upstairs when the time comes, as a traditional perk that went with the day-job.
A shocking recent poll by Ipsos MORI suggests that: “The proportion of the public who believe that politicians are good people has more than halved in the last 30 years. Half the population now disagree that they are good people.”
Knowing all this, can we feel confident that Bercow really can pass the ‘integrity’ test that’s required before someone can be awarded a peerage and don the ceremonial red robes and ermine? That code stipulates: Previous conduct should not risk bringing into disrepute an individual peer or the House of Lords. The Appointments Commission, which vets nominations to become a peer, has – to my certain knowledge – received letters from two senior and well-placed former officials in the House of Commons, formally alerting the Commission to some of the “relevant matters” covered here.
If Bercow is ever allowed to squat on the red benches of the House of Lords, it will be a scandal which Parliament would struggle to live down. The declining reputation of politicians would, sadly, be yet further diminished. As Bercow himself once said, apparently blind to his own failings and inadequacies: “A legislature cannot be effective while suffering from public scorn.”
