Too much “populism” – former “speaker” John Berko turns to Labor Party
John Bercow, 58, leaves Tories to join Labor
Quayle: Picture Alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com
“Order, order” – his call to order made John Bercow more popular than in Great Britain. Now the former parliament speaker is having a blast: he is leaving the Tories under strong criticism from Boris Johnson.
sA colorful tie made John Burko a political pop star, certainly in addition to his capable moderation of debate in the British Parliament.
Now, two years after his departure as “speaker of the House” (as of 2019), the 58-year-old is making headlines again: he is leaving the Conservative Party and joining Keir Starmer’s Labor Party. He made this thing public in a big interview. with “supervisor”, in which he also made violent allegations against his previous party friend, Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Above all, he cares about his own progress. “He is a successful campaigner but a lousy head of government,” he said. Johnson has no passion for improving the lives of those less fortunate than him. “People are fed up with lies, they are fed up with hollow slogans,” is his disastrous verdict. His former party friends are also getting fat.
The Tories are “reactionary, populist, nationalist and sometimes even xenophobic”. So he joined the Labor Party a few weeks ago and now wants to fight for a change of government there. Labor stands for “equality, social justice and internationalism” and, unlike the Tories, is “credible”.
He was immediately welcomed into the Labor Party. MP John McDonnell described Burko’s dealings with lawmakers as “dishonestly fair”. “He has won our respect, especially for his struggle to defend the rights of Parliament. I warmly welcome him to the Labor Party,” McDonnell tweeted.
Meanwhile, conservatives tried to downplay the importance of Burko’s departure. “To be fair to John Bercow, I think he left the Conservative Party a long time ago,” Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told Sky News. Fact: John Bercow, considered an “anti-Brexit” wife, has been active in the Labor Party for years.
Why didn’t he go to the House of Lords
In his ten-year tenure as Speaker of the House of Commons, Bercow had liberally interpreted the rights of MPs and thus caused trouble, especially for former Prime Minister Theresa May.
At times, a group of Brexit opponents in the conservative ruling party were able to take over the legislative process with the help of the opposition to block the path to a no-deal Brexit.
When Johnson later forcibly paused parliament, Bercow got clear words. This was the “act of the executive authority” at the time, he said. He was later ruled by the Supreme Court and declared the shutdown of Parliament illegal.
Johnson did not designate Berco as a member of the House of Lords as the return coach, as is usually the case with former House Speakers. Bercow is the first “speaker” in more than two centuries who was not given this honor.
The 58-year-old is also personally controversial. For example, a 2018 report accused him of presiding over a parliamentary culture in which “bullying, harassment and sexual harassment” can flourish. “I think this suggestion (…) is completely wrong,” he told Sky News. There was only one complaint about him which was dismissed.
Berkow’s successor to the speaker’s chair, Lindsay Hoyle, had apparently distanced herself from Berkow’s distinctive style when she was elected two years earlier. In the meantime, however, he too finds himself increasingly in conflict with the government.
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