Former Speaker of the House will no longer be able to attend Parliament
Former Commons speaker John Bercow has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.
Earlier on Tuesday it was revealed that Bercow would be banned from holding a House of Commons pass following the publication of a bullying investigation into his treatment of three staff members.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, found him guilty of claims made against him, relating to behaviour during his decade as speaker. Her verdict was upheld on Tuesday by an independent expert panel.
The report upheld twenty-one separate complaints, out of a total thirty-five made against him made by former staff.
It described Bercow’s conduct as “an abuse of power” concluding he’d acted as a “serial bully” who “repeatedly and extensively” bullied House of Commons staff, adding that his behaviour “fell very far below that which public has a right to expect from any member of parliament”.
Kathryn Stone found that Mr Bercow had displayed “intimidatory” and “undermining”, and “threatening conduct” towards staff, including verbal abuse, and displays of anger.
The report said if he had been a sitting MP, it would have been recommended that “he should be expelled by resolution of the House”, concluding “we recommend that he should never be permitted a pass to the parliamentary estate”.
In a statement Bercow described the investigation as “a travesty of justice rooted in prejudice, spite and hearsay”, claiming accusations of his misconduct were “upheld even when eyewitnesses testified that they had not taken place”.
He 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.”
Bercow said “This inquiry, which lasted a ghastly 22 months at great cost to the taxpayer, has failed it dismally.
“At the end of it, the panel has simply said that I should be denied a parliamentary pass which I have never applied for and do not want. That is the absurdity of its position.
“Don’t fall for the establishment spin that I have been banned for life. I can still attend debates with the help of a friendly passholder or go as a member of the public.”
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