John Bercow accuses Andrea Leadsom of of ABUSING him in Brexit spat

John Bercow accuses Andrea Leadsom of ABUSING him in extraordinary spat a day after the ‘biased’ Speaker was slammed for helping Remainers’ revolt over Brexit

  • Theresa May pushing on with Brexit deal debate despite defeat looking certain 
  • Speaker John Bercow threw Commons into chaos by tearing up procedure rules
  • He was involved in another brutal spat with Andrea Leadsom in chamber today 
  • Tories and Labour joining forces to try and prevent a no-deal Brexit happening 

John Bercow accused Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom of abusing him today after he tore up Parliamentary rules to aid a Brexit revolt.

The Speaker and Mrs Leadsom were involved in another extraordinary spat in the chamber as he denied abandoning his duty to be impartial.

Making a business statement in the House, the Cabinet minister said Mr Bercow’s actions were unacceptable because MPs were being treated differently.  

But a clearly furious Mr Bercow branded himself the ‘champion of Parliament’ – insisting he had not been ‘arbitrary’ and saying he did not need ‘lectures’.

‘I hope colleagues will understand when I say that I require no lessons or lectures from others about how to discharge my obligations to Parliament and in support of the rights of backbench Parliamentarians,’ he raged.

Mr Bercow added: ‘I have been doing it, I’m continuing to do it and I will go on doing it, no matter how much abuse I get from whatever quarter. It’s water off a duck’s back as far as I am concerned.’

The Speaker (pictured) and Mrs Leadsom were involved in another extraordinary spat in the chamber today as he denied abandoning his duty to be impartial

Making a business statement in the House, Mrs Leadsom (pictured) said Mr Bercow’s actions were unacceptable because MPs were being treated differently

Mr Bercow was assailed by MPs after he flouted Commons procedure to call the amendment

The latest clash came ahead of another day of heated debate on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

The Speaker sparked angry scenes yesterday when he defied the advice of officials to allow an amendment by former attorney general Dominic Grieve, which will force Mrs May to come back to Parliament by January 21 with a Plan B if she loses next week.

Seventeen Tory rebels, including Mr Grieve, joined forces with Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats to defeat the Government by 308 votes to 297 – Mrs May’s second Commons defeat in 24 hours.

Mr Grieve said his amendment was an attempt to ‘accelerate the process’ if the vote was lost so as to avoid the prospects of a no-deal Brexit. 


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But decision to allow the vote on the amendment enraged chief whip Mr Smith. A source said he told Mr Bercow he was ‘totally out of order’, adding: ‘You are throwing centuries of precedence in the bin against the advice of your clerk in order to thwart the referendum result.’

Deputy chief whip Chris Pincher was also seen mouthing ‘bully’ at Mr Bercow in the chamber. 

But the Speaker was later overheard saying: ‘I will not be bullied by Government whips.’

During angry exchanges with Mr Bercow in the Commons, former minister Sir Crispin Blunt said: ‘Many of us will now have an unshakeable conviction that the referee of our affairs … is no longer neutral.’

Mr Bercow admitted there was no precedent for his decision, but told MPs that centuries of convention did not ‘completely bind’ him.

A second day of debate on Theresa May’s (pictured) deal with the EU is getting under way in the chamber

Jeremy Corbyn will use a speech in Yorkshire today to repeat that Labour will vote down the PM’s Brexit deal

He added: ‘If we were guided only by precedent, manifestly nothing in our procedures would ever change … I have made an honest judgment.’

Mr Bercow rounded on Tory MP Adam Holloway after he noted that his car has a sticker with the slogan ‘B******s to Brexit’ in the window. The Speaker said the car in fact belonged to his wife Sally.

And he denied being biased over Brexit, telling MPs: ‘I have always been scrupulously fair to Brexiteers and Remainers alike.’

Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke came to Mr Bercow’s defence, saying some Tory MPs were getting so agitated ‘that perhaps they should don a yellow jacket and go outside’ – a reference to the far-Right protesters accused of harassing pro-Remain MPs outside Parliament.

One of the leading Tory rebels, Sir Oliver Letwin, yesterday broached the idea of talks with the Labour front bench over the next steps.

He asked the Opposition whether it would work with the Government on a customs union and a single market deal. Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir replied: ‘If we are to leave other than without a deal there has to be a consensus in this House for something.’

It also emerged that Mrs May has been holding private meetings with Labour MPs and could offer concessions on workers’ rights to try to win their support.

 

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