Ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow was a serial bully, says report

John Bercow was a "serial bully" while House of Commons Speaker and should not be given a parliamentary pass, a report has said.

The Independent Expert Panel said "his behaviour fell very far below that which the public has a right to expect" from an MP.

It also said he had displayed "undermining behaviour" towards staff.

However, Mr Bercow said the inquiry into the complaints was "amateurish" and based on "tittle tattle".

Mr Bercow was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019 and presided over a turbulent period during which the House of Commons debated the UK's exit from the European Union.

A report into his behaviour by the Independent Expert Panel upheld the findings of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

The panel said it agreed with the commissioner's findings that Mr Bercow had been "a serial bully".

It added that Mr Bercow'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".

Complaints about his conduct while in the position were made by Angus Sinclair, a former member of House of Commons staff, Lord Lisvane, a former senior clerk and Kate Emms, a current member of Commons staff.

However, in a strongly-worded statement Mr Bercow called the report "a travesty of justice rooted in prejudice, spite and hearsay".

He said claims of misconduct were "upheld even when eyewitnesses testified that they had not taken place".

He also 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".