John Bercow banned from Parliament for life for bullying…

[ElIie]

I am wondering what other peoples thoughts are on this.

Everyone in Parliament knew he was a serial bully - particularly towards young women - yet so many people were prepared to over look it because he suited their politics.

The report shows in one instance “he ordered me to stay seated, so he was standing over me, and then threw the mobile phone right in front of me on my desk and it burst into hundreds of bits and I could feel them hitting me”.

Senior MPs, particularly those on the left who are self described feminists, such as Margaret Beckett justified keeping him in place as “Brexit is more important than bullying” and he was lauded as a near deity when he retired.

Sky news even had him as a co-host during the general election despite knowing about his reputation.

As recently as a few months ago he was warmly and publicly welcomed into the Labour Party.

I find this all pretty shocking tbh but I am glad it’s finally all out in the open and he has been suitably punished. I hope he gets expelled from the Labour Party as well.

@Wintersonata

He is Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire - will he be able to keep this post?

And Essex I think?

MP Dawn Butler said ‘not giving Bercow a peerage is a form of bullying too’.
I wonder if she still agrees with this.

@hamstersarse

Because he was against Brexit he could get away with anything while in that position

It’s a perfect representation of the divisive and deliberately blind way in which politics exists right now.

“On my side for a big issue? That’ll do. Never mind the rest of your hideous character”

Bercow has been found guilty and deserves his punishment. No issue there. Patel (a Brexit supporting member of the government) was also found guilty and in addition cost the public purse a hefty amount to pay off her victim. She received no sanctions. Remind me who the system protects?

MP Dawn Butler said ‘not giving Bercow a peerage is a form of bullying too’.

That is so dumb I had to Google to check but that is exactly what she said. Just when I think Dawn Butler can't possibly get more ridiculous, she plumbs new depths.

Patel (a Brexit supporting member of the government) was also found guilty and in addition cost the public purse a hefty amount to pay off her victim

The difference may be down to the fact that the complaints against Patel went through a different route. She was judged against the Ministerial Code and was found to have breached it by an independent investigation. The PM is the final arbiter on the Ministerial Code and decided that, although Patel was guilty of bullying, she should remain in post.

The complaints about Bercow went to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who referred the matter to an Independent Expert Panel to hear Bercow's appeal and determine what sanctions should be applied. It may be that, if the civil servants complaining about Patel had referred the matter to the Commissioner for Standards, the outcome would have been different.

Having said that, the information available suggests that Bercow's bullying was far worse than Patel's. It is therefore possible that, even if the same route had been followed for the complaints, the outcome would have been different.

Note, by the way, that the civil servant who was compensated was not alleged to be a victim of bullying. His case was that he was constructively dismissed due to a briefing campaign against him which he said came when he tried to get Patel to change her behaviour. Whilst he was not named in the investigation into Patel, the investigator's comment that Patel was justifiably frustrated by the Home Office leadership's lack of responsiveness was a clear criticism of him.

I have no time for Patel. I will be happy to see her removed from government. But I am not convinced that equating her case with Bercow's is correct.

@prh47bridge

Patel (a Brexit supporting member of the government) was also found guilty and in addition cost the public purse a hefty amount to pay off her victim

The difference may be down to the fact that the complaints against Patel went through a different route. She was judged against the Ministerial Code and was found to have breached it by an independent investigation. The PM is the final arbiter on the Ministerial Code and decided that, although Patel was guilty of bullying, she should remain in post.

The complaints about Bercow went to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who referred the matter to an Independent Expert Panel to hear Bercow's appeal and determine what sanctions should be applied. It may be that, if the civil servants complaining about Patel had referred the matter to the Commissioner for Standards, the outcome would have been different.

Having said that, the information available suggests that Bercow's bullying was far worse than Patel's. It is therefore possible that, even if the same route had been followed for the complaints, the outcome would have been different.

Note, by the way, that the civil servant who was compensated was not alleged to be a victim of bullying. His case was that he was constructively dismissed due to a briefing campaign against him which he said came when he tried to get Patel to change her behaviour. Whilst he was not named in the investigation into Patel, the investigator's comment that Patel was justifiably frustrated by the Home Office leadership's lack of responsiveness was a clear criticism of him.

I have no time for Patel. I will be happy to see her removed from government. But I am not convinced that equating her case with Bercow's is correct.

We'll never know will we, because the details of Patel's case were not disclosed in full? And she cost the public purse a good deal of money.

…and he’s in the news again for a domestic incident at home! Police were called last night after an allegation of common assault and he left the home.

It has only just emerged, but it seems the incident happened last August, not last night.

It has also emerged that he claimed from the taxpayer to put his wife on furlough despite his company having over £400k in the bank. However, the statement in the Daily Mail that the company continued to make healthy profits throughout Covid simply proves that journalists can't read accounts. The company made a loss of nearly £40k in the year ending 31/3/2021