Brexit in a nutshell

Sonic67

Agree.  Johnson was a liberal Europhile for far longer than he was a Nationalistic Leaver and yet Leavers have no trouble believing he is pure in intent.

I mean, based on action alone, a reasonable person might assume Johnson is trying to thwart Brexit with his faked incompetence.

IronGiant

Not this Leaver.

Sonic67

He's a self confessed remainer, driving a car with a remain sticker on it, "Bollocks to Brexit", and has shown consistent remain bias as speaker.
Just because you haven't seen it is hardly surprising.

He was meant to be gone in 2018. He's hung on till now just to keep trying to scupper it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                'John Bercow has shown he will play a pivotal role in the Brexit endgame – here's how'                                                                                                        Whether Wednesday’s controversial ruling is a one-off or sets a precedent will probably be decided by Bercow’s successor, but critics believe his move will have long-term implications                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                www.independent.co.uk                                                                               
John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, has been accused by ministers and Conservative MPs of showing anti-Tory and anti-Brexit bias after he allowed a controversial vote to go ahead.

His critics claimed he ripped up centuries of tradition by calling a vote on an amendment to a government “business motion” setting out the timetable for the five-day debate on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Unusually, he overruled the officials who advise him, the Commons clerks. Eurosceptic MP Peter Bone claimed they had previously told him the technical motion could not be amended.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                New Tory plot to oust John Bercow as former deputy accuses him of 'open' bias                                                                                                        Tory hardliners are reportedly trying to break convention and stand against the Speaker - as a former deputy accuses him of being in opposition to Leave voters                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                www.mirror.co.uk                                                                               
But MPs have accused Mr Bercow of naked bias after he allowed a vote on the so-called Grieve Amendment on a version of Theresa May's Brexit deal - and refused to hold a third meaningful vote on the deal in March.

"But by trying to stop the Prime Minister’s potentially No Deal Brexit , Mr Speaker appears to be moving in the direction of a US-style Speaker."

She added that Mr Bercow's reported willingness to extend Brexit beyond October 31 could have unintended consequences.

SteakAndCake

Interesting nobody is suggesting he might be biased because he's a Tory.  Assuming he voted in the referendum then he must be biased one way or the other "as a member of the voting public".  Do people perceive him to be more biased because they are aware of a potential conflict of interest?   By which I mean would it be as obvious if he'd kept quiet about his vote?

Sonic67

He said that while speaker. If you have refereed a Man Utd match you don't say after the final whistle you are a Man Utd fan.
There was no need for him to say it and he could still have been neutral regardless of his view. That is the job.
Agreed.
Already done.

SteakAndCake

I think most Tories think he should be in the Labour party. He's pretty liberal in his politics.  More left than many of the "rebels" who crossed the isle.

kav

More:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Bercow Brexit ruling 'extremely concerning'                                                                                                        Ministers accuse Commons Speaker of "unilaterally changing" parliamentary rules after government defeat.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                www.bbc.co.uk                                                                               
John Bercow has been accused of "unilaterally changing" parliamentary rules in the wake of a row over a government Brexit defeat in Parliament.

"What happened today was that the Speaker, instead of being the guardian of the rules, decided to unilaterally change the rules... It doesn't just damage me, it damages all of Parliament."

Earlier in the chamber, ex-minister Crispin Blunt said Mr Bercow had served nine years in the job but questions now had to be asked whether he remained a "neutral referee of our affairs".

'Things change'
Mr Bercow rejected calls to publish the advice he had received from his clerks.

In making his ruling, he argued that if Parliament was always bound by precedent "nothing would change and things do change".

He was "not setting himself up against the government but championing the rights of the House of Commons", adding that if people wanted to vote against the amendment they could.

The BBC's parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy said it was a "massive ruling", made reportedly against the advice of the Commons Clerk, Sir David Natzler.

He said it drove a coach and horses through accepted normal practice, and will have huge implications for the course of Brexit.



Interesting how he quotes previous precedent when it suited him and also seems happy to change the rules and go against the advice.

When it suited him.

SteakAndCake

When even Mogg defends the speaker, you know this is a fuss about nothing. I don't care what Leadsom thinks. I'm amazed she knows how to breath let alone speak  such is the depth of her stupidity.

Sonic67

He doesn't entirely. He's very diplomatic about it. But then he usually is.

But Mr Rees-Mogg said he was a "great admirer" of the Speaker, even though he believed the decision "could make parliamentary business extraordinarily difficult".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I happen to think on this occasion Mr Speaker came to the wrong interpretation, but that doesn't mean I think he is not a fair speaker and a good speaker.

"I do think... that the speaker's interpretation was eccentric, but I don't think it is part of a plot or undermines his standing or any of those things."
I'm sure she doesn't speak highly of you too.

Sonic67

The same as the ref awarding a dodgy penalty.