John Bercow found to be ‘serial bully’ and liar by independent inquiry

The former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has been found to be a “serial bully” and liar by an independent inquiry, which has banned him from holding a parliamentary pass and said he could have been expelled from the Commons if still an MP.

In a coruscating verdict on some of Bercow’s conduct during a decade as Speaker, the independent panel found his behaviour “fell very far below that which the public has a right to expect from any member of parliament”. It upheld 21 out of 35 complaints against him by former staff.

The report said: “The respondent’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. As it is, we recommend that he should never be permitted a pass to the parliamentary estate.”

The panel gave its findings after Bercow appealed against an initial report by Kathryn Stone, the standards commissioner.

As Speaker, Bercow made a number of high-profile stands against the government’s use of Brexit legislation, allowing a number of unorthodox challenges by MPs.

But his final years in the role were dogged by allegations of bullying, including swearing at officials and throwing his mobile phone.

The allegations were brought by Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the Commons, and private secretaries Kate Emms and Angus Sinclair.

The sub-panel of the independent experts chaired by Sir Stephen Irwin found that that parliament’s bullying and harassment policy was “breached repeatedly and extensively by the most senior member of the House of Commons”.

“In all, 21 separate allegations were proved and have been upheld. The house may feel that his conduct brought the high office of Speaker into disrepute,” he said.

“This was behaviour which had no place in any workplace. Members of staff in the house should not be expected to have to tolerate it as part of everyday life.”

The IEP dismissed Bercow’s appeals against those decisions, concluding in one case that he had “been widely unreliable and repeatedly dishonest in his evidence”.

“He has attempted to defeat these complaints by false accusations of collusion and by advancing lies,” it said.

Its decision on sanction said: “The findings of the parliamentary commissioner for standards, which we have upheld, show that the respondent has been a serial bully […]

“His evidence in the investigations, the findings of the commissioner, and his submissions to us, show also that the respondent has been a serial liar.”

Bercow, a former Conservative MP who has since defected to Labour, was previously denied a peerage despite being nominated by the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Bercow released a statement on the findings, calling the investigation “amateurish” and claiming the complainants had been resisting his attempts to modernise parliament.

The former Speaker said: “Parliament is supposed to be the highest court in the land. 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.”

The independent panel replied to this saying that “complaints about the fairness of the process are groundless”.

Bercow will be banned from getting a pass as a former MP but would still be able to go into the Palace of Westminster as a guest or member of the public.

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